Methods and systems for presenting supplemental content in media assets

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems are provided herein for presenting supplemental content in media assets, which may be presented only to particular users, irrespective of whether or not other users are viewing the same media asset on the same device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

While the amount and variety of media assets available to users hasincreased exponentially over the last decade, personalizing anyparticular media asset based on a particular user is still a key concernof both advertisers and content providers. For example, by targetingadvertisements to particular users or supplying additional content withmedia assets based on whether or not a user typically enjoys mediacontent of that type, an advertiser and/or content provider increasesthe likelihood that the advertisement or additional content will be wellreceived by the users. Furthermore, whether by adding subtitles,widgets, or other features, the ability to customize media assets alsoenhances the media experience of the users. The drawback to targetingand adding additional content based on a particular user is that usersoften watch media assets together in which case some users may not wantadvertisements and/or additional content or may want differentadvertisements and/or additional content.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, methods and systems are provided herein for presentingsupplemental content in various media systems, which may be presentedonly to particular users, irrespective of whether or not other users areviewing the same media asset on the same device. Advantageously, oneuser is not distracted by the supplemental content displayed to anotheruser. In addition one user may receive supplemental content, while adifferent user, viewing the same media asset, simultaneously receivesdifferent supplemental content.

For example, a media guidance application is disclosed herein thatpresents supplemental content to only users in particular viewingdirections in holographic media systems. A media guidance application isalso disclosed herein that presents supplemental content to only userswith optical user devices using a particular synchronization scheme.

In some aspects, a media guidance application, implemented on aholographic media system, may present a single instance of media contentby combining multiple frames, in which each of the multiple framescorresponds to the same instance of the media content, but displays themedia content from a different viewing direction. Additionally, themedia guidance application may add supplemental content (e.g.,subtitles, advertisements, etc.) to one or more of the multiple framessuch that a user viewing the media content from the viewing directionassociated with the one or more frames views the supplemental content asoverlaid on the media content.

For example, the media content may be composed of a plurality of frames,in which a first frame of the plurality of frames includes firstsupplemental content and a second frame of the plurality of framesincludes second supplemental content. The media guidance application mayselect, based on a user criterion (e.g., a media interest of the user, auser selection indicating a desire to view particular content, arecommendation from a remote location, etc.) whether or not to presentthe first supplemental content or the second supplemental content to auser. In response to the selection, the media guidance applicationdetermines a viewing direction in which the selected first supplementalcontent or the selected second supplemental content is presented to theuser, and the media guidance application generates a display of theselected first supplemental content or the selected second supplementalcontent at the determined viewing direction simultaneously with themedia asset.

In some aspects, a media guidance application generates a display ofmedia content that is perceived by the user as including a 3D effectwhen viewed using an optical user device. For example, by showing aviewer media content from slightly different angles while using anoptical user device that rapidly allows and restricts a viewerseyesight, the parallax caused by the different angles, causes a user toperceive a 3D effect.

The media guidance application may synchronize the optical user device,which may be configured as headwear (e.g., glasses) with a first andsecond shutter to open and close, to allow or prevent the user fromseeing a frame of the media content. In addition to generating theperceived 3D effect, the synchronization scheme determined by the mediaguidance application may also cause a user to perceive supplementalcontent overlaid on the media content.

For example, the media guidance application may receive media content,comprising a plurality of frames, in which a first frame of theplurality of frames includes first supplemental content and a secondframe of the plurality of frames includes second supplemental content.The media guidance application may select, based on a user criterion(e.g., a media interest of the user, a user selection indicating adesire to view particular content, a recommendation from a remotelocation, etc.), whether to present the first supplemental content orthe second supplemental content to a user. In response to selecting thefirst supplemental content, the media guidance application determines asynchronization scheme for the optical user device in which the firstsupplemental content in the first frame of the plurality of frames ispresented to the user with the media asset and the second supplementalcontent in the second frame of the plurality of frames is not presentedto the user.

In some aspects, the supplemental content, which may be presented as aseries of frames, may correspond to a series of frames of the mediacontent. In addition, the supplemental content may be requested by theuser or automatically generated by the media guidance application. Forexample, the media guidance application may select the supplementalcontent by cross-referencing various supplemental content with userpreferences to find supplemental content that corresponds to the userpreferences.

It should be noted, the systems and/or methods described above may beapplied to, or used in accordance with, other systems, methods and/orapparatuses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative media guidance application for selectingmedia assets in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows another illustrative media guidance application forselecting media assets in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an illustrative user equipment device inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an illustrative media system in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 is an illustrative example of a user detection component, whichmay be accessed by a media application in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 is an illustrative location at which multiple users are viewing amedia asset at different viewing directions in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flow-chart of illustrative steps involved in generatingholographic supplemental content simultaneously with a media asset inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flow-chart of illustrative steps involved in selectingframes for generating holographic supplemental content simultaneouslywith a media asset in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 9A is an illustrative embodiment of an optical user deceive usedfor viewing media content in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 9B is another illustrative embodiment of an optical user deceiveused for viewing media content in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 9C is another illustrative embodiment of an optical user deceiveused for viewing media content in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 9D is another illustrative embodiment of an optical user deceiveused for viewing media content in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flow-chart of illustrative steps involved in selectingsupplemental content in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 11 is a flow-chart of illustrative steps involved in operating anoptical user device according to a synchronization scheme in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure; and

FIG. 12 is an illustrative example of a multiplexing system used by amedia guidance application to generate media content in accordance withsome embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Methods and systems are provided herein for presenting supplementalcontent in various media systems, which may be presented only toparticular users, irrespective of whether or not other users are viewingthe same media asset on the same device. For example, in holographic andsome 3D media systems different frames of a single instance of a mediaasset may be shown to different users. For example, in a holographicmedia system each user views a frame associated with a viewing directionof the user, while in the 3D media system disclosed below each userviews a frame of a media asset associated with a synchronization schemeof an optical user device worn by a user.

As referred to herein, “supplemental content” refers to any content thatis generated for consumption by a user during the presentation of amedia asset. For example, supplemental content may include, but is notlimited to, subtitles, media guidance data, descriptions, and/orinformation about objects or entities shown and/or described in a mediaasset. For example, supplemental content may include an advertisementabout a product appearing in the media content, may refer to news and/orsocial media updates, and/or any other information a user may beinterested in receiving during the presentation of the media content.

As referred to herein, an “instance” of media content refers to a finitepoint in the progression of a presentation of a media asset. Forexample, in traditional 2D programming, an instance of the media assetmay correspond to a frame of the programming. In holographic mediacontent and in some 3D media systems an instance may include severalframes corresponding to different viewing directions (e.g., images of anobject captured from different angles). The frames may be displayedsimultaneously (e.g., in holographic systems) or substantiallysimultaneously (e.g., in some 3D media systems.

In holographic media systems images from supplemental content may beoverlaid on a frame of a media asset that is displayed to a user.Because in a hologram a first user only sees a frame associated withhis/her viewing direction, supplemental content may be overlaid on thatframe. A second user viewing from a different viewing direction does notsee the same frame as the first user; therefore, the presence of thesupplemental content on the frame viewed by the first user does notcreate an obstruction to the second user.

For example, a hologram is composed of light interference patternsrecorded on a medium (e.g., a holographic film). To generate the lightinterference patterns on the film, a light source is split into multiplebeams and scattered off an object and a recording medium. As a result ofthe scattering, the light beam becomes out of phase, which gives rise toholographic “fringes” recorded in the medium. When light is subsequentlyapplied to the medium, the fringes provide three-dimensional depth.

By using a recording medium that is dynamically updatable (e.g., mayreproduce multiple recorded light fields in series), a media guidanceapplication may generate a holographic media asset. Photorefractivepolymers, which may be used as dynamically updatable recording mediumsare described in greater detail in Blanche et al., “Holographicthree-dimensional telepresence using large-area photorefractivepolymer,” Nature, 468, 80-83 (Nov. 4, 2010), which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

In some of the 3D media systems discussed below, an optical user device(e.g., glasses worn by a user) rapidly opens and shuts shutters (e.g.,correspond to the right and left eye of a user) on the optical userdevice such that only a single eye of a user may view media content ayany one time. However, because that opening and closing of the shuttersis at such a high speed, a user does not notice any obstruction tohis/her viewing of a media asset. Instead, the media content appears asa seamless progression.

Furthermore, by synchronizing the opening and closing of the opticaluser device, a media guidance application may generate a media assetthat displays supplemental content in a series of frames that is seen byonly a single user of the multiple users viewing the same media asset.For example, by doubling the number of frames in a traditional mediaasset (and doubling the frame rate), the media guidance application mayalternative between a frame of a presentation of the media asset withsupplemental content and a frame of the presentation of the media assetwithout the supplemental content. A user that wishes to view thesupplemental content varies a synchronization scheme associated withhis/her optical user device such that the alternating frame of the mediaasset without the supplemental content is blocked, while the media assetwith the supplemental content is shown.

As used herein, a “synchronization scheme” refers to a predeterminedsequence, often in the form of a repeated pattern, associated with anoptical user device for use in generating a 3D effects when viewing amedia asset. For example, a synchronization scheme may determine theordering and timing of the opening and closing of the shutters (e.g.,shutter 902 and shutter 904 (FIGS. 9A-D) below) associated with a rightand left eye of a user, or the display of frames in a media asset. Forexample, in some embodiments, the media guidance application maydetermine/vary the synchronization scheme used to display a media assetbased on the synchronization scheme of an optical user device used toview the media asset and/or determine/vary the synchronization schemeused by the optical user device to view the media asset.

A 3D media system as described herein may also be known as a activeshutter 3D system. An active shutter 3D system works by openlypresenting the image intended for the left eye while blocking the righteye's view, then presenting the right-eye image while blocking the lefteye, at a speed high enough to not be perceived by human sight, thusallowing the images to be perceived as fused into a single 3D image.Active shutter 3D systems are described in greater detail in Ueki et al.U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2013/0063670, filed Mar. 18, 2001 and Lo U.S.Patent App. No. 2012/0086776, filed Oct. 8, 2010 which are herebyincorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

In some embodiments, a synchronization scheme may also apply to thepolarization of supplemental content and/or a frame of a media asset. Insome embodiments, a media guidance application may polarize the lightassociated with supplemental content and/or a frame of a media assetsuch that only particular users can see the supplemental content. Forexample, supplemental content and/or a frame of a media asset polarizedninety degrees to that of an optical user device (e.g., shutter-lessglasses) will not be seen by a user, whereas supplemental content and/ora frame of a media asset polarized at zero degrees will be seen by auser. In such systems, the media guidance application may generate fordisplay a first media asset and a second media asset, which includessupplemental content, the first media asset and the second media assetmay be presented polarized ninety degrees from each other. The mediaguidance application may then synchronize the polarization of an opticaluser device based on whether or not the user wishes to view thesupplemental content.

For example, in some embodiments, media content may be composed of aplurality of frames, in which a first frame of the plurality of framesincludes first supplemental content and a second frame of the pluralityof frames includes second supplemental content, and in which the firstand second frames are polarized at ninety degrees. The media guidanceapplication may select, based on a user criterion (e.g., a mediainterest of the user, a user selection indicating a desire to viewparticular content, a recommendation from a remote location, etc.)whether or not to present the first supplemental content or the secondsupplemental content to a user. In response to the selection, the mediaguidance application determines a polarization in which the selectedfirst supplemental content or the selected second supplemental contentis presented to the user, and the media guidance applicationsynchronizes the polarization of an optical user device to thepolarization of the selected first supplemental content or the selectedsecond supplemental content at the determined polarization.

It should be noted that any embodiment described herein relating to onemethod of stereoscopic technique may be applied to any otherstereoscopic technique. For example, the methods and systems describedherein related to active shutter systems and/or polarization systems mayalso be applied to interference filter systems, color anaglyph systems,chromadepth systems, and/or any other technique for creating orenhancing the illusion of depth in an image

In some embodiments, to determine whether or not to display supplementalcontent and/or to determine which particular supplemental content todisplay, the media guidance application compares the availablesupplemental content to a user criterion associated with the user. Asused herein, the phrase “user criterion” or “user criteria” refers toany characteristic which affects the likelihood that would affect adecision of a user regarding whether or not to view supplemental contentand/or whether or not to view a particular type of supplemental content.

For example, a user criterion may include the presence of particularcontent (e.g., an actor, an exciting scene, a plot-twist, or any otherattribute related to content or context) of the media asset, or mayinclude an indication that the user may prefer to view the supplementalcontent and/or the media asset with the supplemental content (e.g., auser input requesting to view supplemental content with the mediaasset).

The amount of content available to users in any given content deliverysystem can be substantial. Consequently, many users desire a form ofmedia guidance through an interface that allows users to efficientlynavigate content selections and easily identify content that they maydesire. An application that provides such guidance is referred to hereinas an interactive media guidance application or, sometimes, a mediaguidance application or a guidance application.

Interactive media guidance applications may take various forms dependingon the content for which they provide guidance. One typical type ofmedia guidance application is an interactive television program guide.Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to aselectronic program guides) are well-known guidance applications that,among other things, allow users to navigate among and locate many typesof content or media assets. Interactive media guidance applications maygenerate graphical user interface screens that enable a user to navigateamong, locate and select content. As referred to herein, the terms“media asset” and “content” should be understood to mean anelectronically consumable user asset, such as television programming, aswell as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (as in video-on-demand(VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streaming content, downloadablecontent, Webcasts, etc.), video clips, audio, content information,pictures, rotating images, documents, playlists, websites, articles,books, electronic books, blogs, advertisements, chat sessions, socialmedia, applications, games, and/or any other media or multimedia and/orcombination of the same. Guidance applications also allow users tonavigate among and locate content. As referred to herein, the term“multimedia” should be understood to mean content that utilizes at leasttwo different content forms described above, for example, text, audio,images, video, or interactivity content forms. Content may be recorded,played, displayed or accessed by user equipment devices, but can also bepart of a live performance.

With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speedwireless networks, users are accessing media on user equipment deviceson which they traditionally did not. As referred to herein, the phrase“user equipment device,” “user equipment,” “user device,” “electronicdevice,” “electronic equipment,” “media equipment device,” or “mediadevice” should be understood to mean any device for accessing thecontent described above, such as a television, a Smart TV, a set-topbox, an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellitetelevision, a digital storage device, a digital media receiver (DMR), adigital media adapter (DMA), a streaming media device, a DVD player, aDVD recorder, a connected DVD, a local media server, a BLU-RAY player, aBLU-RAY recorder, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV), a PCmedia server, a PC media center, a hand-held computer, a stationarytelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, aportable video player, a portable music player, a portable gamingmachine, a smart phone, or any other television equipment, computingequipment, or wireless device, and/or combination of the same. In someembodiments, the user equipment device may have a front facing screenand a rear facing screen, multiple front screens, or multiple angledscreens. In some embodiments, the user equipment device may have a frontfacing camera and/or a rear facing camera. On these user equipmentdevices, users may be able to navigate among and locate the same contentavailable through a television. Consequently, media guidance may beavailable on these devices, as well. The guidance provided may be forcontent available only through a television, for content available onlythrough one or more of other types of user equipment devices, or forcontent available both through a television and one or more of the othertypes of user equipment devices. The media guidance applications may beprovided as on-line applications (i.e., provided on a web-site), or asstand-alone applications or clients on user equipment devices. Variousdevices and platforms that may implement media guidance applications aredescribed in more detail below.

One of the functions of the media guidance application is to providemedia guidance data to users. As referred to herein, the phrase, “mediaguidance data” or “guidance data” should be understood to mean any datarelated to content, such as media listings, media-related information(e.g., broadcast times, broadcast channels, titles, descriptions,ratings information (e.g., parental control ratings, critic's ratings,etc.), genre or category information, actor information, logo data forbroadcasters' or providers' logos, etc.), media format (e.g., standarddefinition, high definition, 3D, etc.), advertisement information (e.g.,text, images, media clips, etc.), on-demand information, blogs,websites, and any other type of guidance data that is helpful for a userto navigate among and locate desired content selections.

FIGS. 1-2 show illustrative display screens that may be used to providemedia guidance data. The display screens shown in FIGS. 1-2 may beimplemented on any suitable user equipment device or platform. While thedisplays of FIGS. 1-2 are illustrated as full screen displays, they mayalso be fully or partially overlaid over content being displayed. A usermay indicate a desire to access content information by selecting aselectable option provided in a display screen (e.g., a menu option, alistings option, an icon, a hyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicatedbutton (e.g., a GUIDE button) on a remote control or other user inputinterface or device. In response to the user's indication, the mediaguidance application may provide a display screen with media guidancedata organized in one of several ways, such as by time and channel in agrid, by time, by channel, by source, by content type, by category(e.g., movies, sports, news, children, or other categories ofprogramming), or other predefined, user-defined, or other organizationcriteria. The organization of the media guidance data is determined byguidance application data. As referred to herein, the phrase, “guidanceapplication data” should be understood to mean data used in operatingthe guidance application, such as program information, guidanceapplication settings, user preferences, or user profile information.

FIG. 1 shows illustrative grid program listings display 100 arranged bytime and channel that also enables access to different types of contentin a single display. Display 100 may include grid 102 with: (1) a columnof channel/content type identifiers 104, where each channel/content typeidentifier (which is a cell in the column) identifies a differentchannel or content type available; and (2) a row of time identifiers106, where each time identifier (which is a cell in the row) identifiesa time block of programming. Grid 102 also includes cells of programlistings, such as program listing 108, where each listing provides thetitle of the program provided on the listing's associated channel andtime. With a user input device, a user can select program listings bymoving highlight region 110. Information relating to the program listingselected by highlight region 110 may be provided in program informationregion 112. Region 112 may include, for example, the program title, theprogram description, the time the program is provided (if applicable),the channel the program is on (if applicable), the program's rating, andother desired information.

In addition to providing access to linear programming (e.g., contentthat is scheduled to be transmitted to a plurality of user equipmentdevices at a predetermined time and is provided according to aschedule), the media guidance application also provides access tonon-linear programming (e.g., content accessible to a user equipmentdevice at any time and is not provided according to a schedule).Non-linear programming may include content from different contentsources including on-demand content (e.g., VOD), Internet content (e.g.,streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored content(e.g., content stored on any user equipment device described above orother storage device), or other time-independent content. On-demandcontent may include movies or any other content provided by a particularcontent provider (e.g., HBO On Demand providing “The Sopranos” and “CurbYour Enthusiasm”). HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time WarnerCompany L.P. et al. and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM aretrademarks owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Internet content mayinclude web events, such as a chat session or Webcast, or contentavailable on-demand as streaming content or downloadable content throughan Internet web site or other Internet access (e.g. FTP).

Grid 102 may provide media guidance data for non-linear programmingincluding on-demand listing 114, recorded content listing 116, andInternet content listing 118. A display combining media guidance datafor content from different types of content sources is sometimesreferred to as a “mixed-media” display. Various permutations of thetypes of media guidance data that may be displayed that are differentthan display 100 may be based on user selection or guidance applicationdefinition (e.g., a display of only recorded and broadcast listings,only on-demand and broadcast listings, etc.). As illustrated, listings114, 116, and 118 are shown as spanning the entire time block displayedin grid 102 to indicate that selection of these listings may provideaccess to a display dedicated to on-demand listings, recorded listings,or Internet listings, respectively. In some embodiments, listings forthese content types may be included directly in grid 102. Additionalmedia guidance data may be displayed in response to the user selectingone of the navigational icons 120. (Pressing an arrow key on a userinput device may affect the display in a similar manner as selectingnavigational icons 120.)

Display 100 may also include video region 122, advertisement 124, andoptions region 126. Video region 122 may allow the user to view and/orpreview programs that are currently available, will be available, orwere available to the user. The content of video region 122 maycorrespond to, or be independent from, one of the listings displayed ingrid 102. Grid displays including a video region are sometimes referredto as picture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and theirfunctionalities are described in greater detail in Satterfield et al.U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et al. U.S. Pat.No. 6,239,794, issued May 29, 2001, which are hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entireties. PIG displays may be included inother media guidance application display screens of the embodimentsdescribed herein.

Advertisement 124 may provide an advertisement for content that,depending on a viewer's access rights (e.g., for subscriptionprogramming), is currently available for viewing, will be available forviewing in the future, or may never become available for viewing, andmay correspond to or be unrelated to one or more of the content listingsin grid 102. Advertisement 124 may also be for products or servicesrelated or unrelated to the content displayed in grid 102. Advertisement124 may be selectable and provide further information about content,provide information about a product or a service, enable purchasing ofcontent, a product, or a service, provide content relating to theadvertisement, etc. Advertisement 124 may be targeted based on a user'sprofile/preferences, monitored user activity, the type of displayprovided, or on other suitable targeted advertisement bases.

While advertisement 124 is shown as rectangular or banner shaped,advertisements may be provided in any suitable size, shape, and locationin a guidance application display. For example, advertisement 124 may beprovided as a rectangular shape that is horizontally adjacent to grid102. This is sometimes referred to as a panel advertisement. Inaddition, advertisements may be overlaid over content or a guidanceapplication display or embedded within a display. Advertisements mayalso include text, images, rotating images, video clips, or other typesof content described above. Advertisements may be stored in a userequipment device having a guidance application, in a database connectedto the user equipment, in a remote location (including streaming mediaservers), or on other storage means, or a combination of theselocations. Providing advertisements in a media guidance application isdiscussed in greater detail in, for example, Knudson et al., U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2003/0110499, filed Jan. 17, 2003; Ward, IIIet al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,997, issued Jun. 29, 2004; and Schein et al.U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,714, issued May 14, 2002, which are herebyincorporated by reference herein in their entireties. It will beappreciated that advertisements may be included in other media guidanceapplication display screens of the embodiments described herein.

Options region 126 may allow the user to access different types ofcontent, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidanceapplication features. Options region 126 may be part of display 100 (andother display screens described herein), or may be invoked by a user byselecting an on-screen option or pressing a dedicated or assignablebutton on a user input device. The selectable options within optionsregion 126 may concern features related to program listings in grid 102or may include options available from a main menu display. Featuresrelated to program listings may include searching for other air times orways of receiving a program, recording a program, enabling seriesrecording of a program, setting program and/or channel as a favorite,purchasing a program, or other features. Options available from a mainmenu display may include search options, VOD options, parental controloptions, Internet options, cloud-based options, device synchronizationoptions, second screen device options, options to access various typesof media guidance data displays, options to subscribe to a premiumservice, options to edit a user's profile, options to access a browseoverlay, or other options.

The media guidance application may be personalized based on a user'spreferences. A personalized media guidance application allows a user tocustomize displays and features to create a personalized “experience”with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may becreated by allowing a user to input these customizations and/or by themedia guidance application monitoring user activity to determine varioususer preferences. Users may access their personalized guidanceapplication by logging in or otherwise identifying themselves to theguidance application. Customization of the media guidance applicationmay be made in accordance with a user profile. The customizations mayinclude varying presentation schemes (e.g., color scheme of displays,font size of text, etc.), aspects of content listings displayed (e.g.,only HDTV or only 3D programming, user-specified broadcast channelsbased on favorite channel selections, re-ordering the display ofchannels, recommended content, etc.), desired recording features (e.g.,recording or series recordings for particular users, recording quality,etc.), parental control settings, customized presentation of Internetcontent (e.g., presentation of social media content, e-mail,electronically delivered articles, etc.) and other desiredcustomizations.

The media guidance application may allow a user to provide user profileinformation or may automatically compile user profile information. Themedia guidance application may, for example, monitor the content theuser accesses and/or other interactions the user may have with theguidance application. Additionally, the media guidance application mayobtain all or part of other user profiles that are related to aparticular user (e.g., from other web sites on the Internet the useraccesses, such as www.allrovi.com, from other media guidanceapplications the user accesses, from other interactive applications theuser accesses, from another user equipment device of the user, etc.),and/or obtain information about the user from other sources that themedia guidance application may access. As a result, a user can beprovided with a unified guidance application experience across theuser's different user equipment devices. This type of user experience isdescribed in greater detail below in connection with FIG. 4. Additionalpersonalized media guidance application features are described ingreater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005, Boyer et al., U.S. Pat. No.7,165,098, issued Jan. 16, 2007, and Ellis et al., U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2002/0174430, filed Feb. 21, 2002, which arehereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown inFIG. 2. Video mosaic display 200 includes selectable options 202 forcontent information organized based on content type, genre, and/or otherorganization criteria. In display 200, television listings option 204 isselected, thus providing listings 206, 208, 210, and 212 as broadcastprogram listings. In display 200 the listings may provide graphicalimages including cover art, still images from the content, video clippreviews, live video from the content, or other types of content thatindicate to a user the content being described by the media guidancedata in the listing. Each of the graphical listings may also beaccompanied by text to provide further information about the contentassociated with the listing. For example, listing 208 may include morethan one portion, including media portion 214 and text portion 216.Media portion 214 and/or text portion 216 may be selectable to viewcontent in full-screen or to view information related to the contentdisplayed in media portion 214 (e.g., to view listings for the channelthat the video is displayed on).

The listings in display 200 are of different sizes (i.e., listing 206 islarger than listings 208, 210, and 212), but if desired, all thelistings may be the same size. Listings may be of different sizes orgraphically accentuated to indicate degrees of interest to the user orto emphasize certain content, as desired by the content provider orbased on user preferences. Various systems and methods for graphicallyaccentuating content listings are discussed in, for example, Yates, U.S.Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0153885, filed Dec. 29, 2005,which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Users may access content and the media guidance application (and itsdisplay screens described above and below) from one or more of theiruser equipment devices. FIG. 3 shows a generalized embodiment ofillustrative user equipment device 300. More specific implementations ofuser equipment devices are discussed below in connection with FIG. 4. Inaddition, the generalized embodiments of user equipment device 300 mayalso be applied to the specialized devices of FIG. 6 (e.g., user device602) and FIG. 9 (e.g., optical user device 900). For example, in someembodiments, a media guidance application may be implemented user device602 (FIG. 6) and/or optical device 900 (FIGS. 9A-D), in which case userdevice 602 (FIG. 6) and/or optical device 900 (FIGS. 9A-D) may includeone or more of the features described in FIGS. 3-4.

User equipment device 300 may receive content and data via input/output(hereinafter “I/O”) path 302. I/O path 302 may provide content (e.g.,broadcast programming, on-demand programming, Internet content, contentavailable over a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN),and/or other content) and data to control circuitry 304, which includesprocessing circuitry 306 and storage 308. Control circuitry 304 may beused to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable datausing I/O path 302. I/O path 302 may connect control circuitry 304 (andspecifically processing circuitry 306) to one or more communicationspaths (described below). I/O functions may be provided by one or more ofthese communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 3 toavoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Control circuitry 304 may be based on any suitable processing circuitrysuch as processing circuitry 306. As referred to herein, processingcircuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may includea multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or anysuitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments,processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separateprocessors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same typeof processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multipledifferent processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Corei7 processor). In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 executesinstructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e.,storage 308). Specifically, control circuitry 304 may be instructed bythe media guidance application to perform the functions discussed aboveand below. For example, the media guidance application may provideinstructions to control circuitry 304 to generate the media guidancedisplays. In some implementations, any action performed by controlcircuitry 304 may be based on instructions received from the mediaguidance application.

In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 304 may includecommunications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidanceapplication server or other networks or servers. The instructions forcarrying out the above mentioned functionality may be stored on theguidance application server. Communications circuitry may include acable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, adigital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, Ethernet card,or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment, or anyother suitable communications circuitry. Such communications may involvethe Internet or any other suitable communications networks or paths(which is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 4). Inaddition, communications circuitry may include circuitry that enablespeer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or communicationof user equipment devices in locations remote from each other (describedin more detail below).

Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as storage 308 thatis part of control circuitry 304. As referred to herein, the phrase“electronic storage device” or “storage device” should be understood tomean any device for storing electronic data, computer software, orfirmware, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, hard drives,optical drives, digital video disc (DVD) recorders, compact disc (CD)recorders, BLU-RAY disc (BD) recorders, BLU-RAY 3D disc recorders,digital video recorders (DVR, sometimes called a personal videorecorder, or PVR), solid state devices, quantum storage devices, gamingconsoles, gaming media, or any other suitable fixed or removable storagedevices, and/or any combination of the same. Storage 308 may be used tostore various types of content described herein as well as mediaguidance information, described above, and guidance application data,described above. Nonvolatile memory may also be used (e.g., to launch aboot-up routine and other instructions). Cloud-based storage, describedin relation to FIG. 4, may be used to supplement storage 308 or insteadof storage 308.

Control circuitry 304 may include video generating circuitry and tuningcircuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, orany other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of suchcircuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog,or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided.Control circuitry 304 may also include scaler circuitry for upconvertingand downconverting content into the preferred output format of the userequipment 300. Circuitry 304 may also include digital-to-analogconverter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry forconverting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may be used by the user equipment device to receive and todisplay, to play, or to record content. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may also be used to receive guidance data. The circuitrydescribed herein, including for example, the tuning, video generating,encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaler, and analog/digitalcircuitry, may be implemented using software running on one or moregeneral purpose or specialized processors. Multiple tuners may beprovided to handle simultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and recordfunctions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording,etc.). If storage 308 is provided as a separate device from userequipment 300, the tuning and encoding circuitry (including multipletuners) may be associated with storage 308.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry 304 using user inputinterface 310. User input interface 310 may be any suitable userinterface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,touch screen, touchpad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognitioninterface, or other user input interfaces. Display 312 may be providedas a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of userequipment device 300. Display 312 may be one or more of a monitor, atelevision, a liquid crystal display (LCD) for a mobile device, or anyother suitable equipment for displaying visual images. In someembodiments, display 312 may be HDTV-capable. In some embodiments,display 312 may be a 3D display, and the interactive media guidanceapplication and any suitable content may be displayed in 3D. A videocard or graphics card may generate the output to the display 312. Thevideo card may offer various functions such as accelerated rendering of3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or theability to connect multiple monitors. The video card may be anyprocessing circuitry described above in relation to control circuitry304. The video card may be integrated with the control circuitry 304.Speakers 314 may be provided as integrated with other elements of userequipment device 300 or may be stand-alone units. The audio component ofvideos and other content displayed on display 312 may be played throughspeakers 314. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to areceiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers314.

User equipment device 300 may also incorporate or be accessible to userdetection component 316. User detection component 316 may furtherinclude various components (e.g., a video detection component, an audiodetection component, etc.). In some embodiments, user detectioncomponent 316 may include components that are specialized to generateparticular information (e.g., the location, position, and/or viewingdirection of one or more users).

For example, as discussed below in relation to FIG. 5, user detectioncomponent 316 may include an eye contact detection component, whichdetermines or receives a location upon which one or both of a user'seyes are located. The location of a user's eyes is referred to herein asthe user's “gaze point.” It should be noted that as discussed herein alocation of a user may in some cases be synonymous with a gaze point ofa user. For example, when the media guidance application determines(e.g., via user detection component 316), the location of a user, themedia guidance application may be basing the location of the user on thelocation of the gaze point of the user.

In some embodiments, the eye contact detection component may monitor oneof both eyes of a user of user equipment 300 to identify a gaze point ondisplay 312 for the user. The eye contact detection component mayadditionally or alternatively determine whether one or both eyes of auser are focused on a location (e.g., a user device generating mediacontent) as well as the location (e.g., via a spatial detectioncomponent) and the identity (e.g., via an optical recognition module) ofthe user. In some embodiments, the eye contact detection componentincludes one or more sensors that transmit data to processing circuitry306, which determines a user's gaze point. The eye contact detectioncomponent may be integrated with other elements of user equipment device300, or the eye contact detection component, or any other component ofuser detection component 316 and may be a separate device or system incommunication with user equipment device 300.

User detection component 316 may also include an object recognitionmodule. The object recognition module may use edge detection, patternrecognition, including, but not limited to, self-learning systems (e.g.,neural networks), optical character recognition, on-line characterrecognition (including, but not limited to, dynamic characterrecognition, real-time character recognition, intelligent characterrecognition), and/or any other suitable technique or method to identifyindividual scenes, segments, and/or any other characteristic of a mediaasset or an image (e.g., of a location). For example, the media guidanceapplication may receive a media asset in the form of a video (e.g., anaudio/video recording of a user). The video may include a series offrames. For each frame of the video, the media guidance application mayuse an object recognition module to identify objects (e.g., a user) inthe frame. In some embodiments, the content-recognition module oralgorithm may also include audio analysis and speech recognitiontechniques, including, but not limited to, Hidden Markov Models, dynamictime warping, and/or neural networks (as described above) to processaudio data and/or translate spoken words into text in order to identifyobjects.

In addition, the media guidance application may use multiple types ofoptical character recognition and/or fuzzy logic, for example, whenanalyzing subtitles (e.g., in order to determine the content of themedia asset) or comparing multiple data fields (e.g., as contained indatabases described herein). For example, the media guidance applicationmay arrange data into data fields (e.g., of database 550 (FIG. 5)) andcross-reference the data fields with other data fields (e.g., in alook-up table database). Using fuzzy logic, the system may determine twofields and/or values to be identical even though the substance of thedata field or value (e.g., two different spellings) is not identical. Insome embodiments, the system may analyze particular data fields of adatabase for particular values or text. Furthermore, the data fieldscould contain values (e.g., the data fields could be expressed in binaryor any other suitable code or programming language) other thanhuman-readable text.

User device 300 may also include selection circuitry 318. In someembodiments (e.g., as described in FIGS. 9A-D and 12 below), selectioncircuitry 318 may include a multiplexer for combining multiple mediaasset into a single media asset. In addition, as discussed below,selection circuitry 318 may also be used by a media guidance applicationto ensure that an optical user device and a user equipment device are inphase (i.e., share a synchronization scheme). Furthermore, in someembodiments, selection circuitry 318 may communicate with an opticaluser device (e.g., optical user device 900 (FIG. 9)) in order todetermine/maintain a synchronization scheme. As such, selectioncircuitry 318, which may be accessible by, or incorporated into themedia guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3))may communicate with an optical user device via the Internet, a mobilephone network, mobile voice or data network (e.g., a 4G or LTE network),cable network, public switched telephone network, or other types ofcommunications network or combinations of communications networks. Paths408, 410, and 412 may separately or together include one or morecommunications paths, such as, a satellite path, a fiber-optic path, acable path, a path that supports Internet communications (e.g., IPTV),free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wireless signals),short-range point-to-point communication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE1394 cables, wireless paths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x,etc.), or any other suitable wired or wireless communications path orcombination of such paths.

Selection circuitry 318 may also incorporate and/or have access to aclock, which enables a media guidance application to ensure that anoptical user device and a user equipment device are in synch (e.g., bothrefresh at 120 Hz). The media guidance application may also transmit aclock signal to various other devices (e.g., a multiplexer as describedin FIG. 12 below). For example, selection circuitry 318 ensures that anopen operation performed by the optical user device occurs on, and laststhe duration of, a single refresh (e.g., the display of a first frame)on the user equipment device for content the user wishes to view.Likewise, selection circuitry 318 ensures that a close operationperformed by the optical user device occurs on, and lasts the durationof, a single refresh (e.g., the display of a second frame) on the userequipment device for content the user wishes to view.

The guidance application may be implemented using any suitablearchitecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone application whollyimplemented on user equipment device 300. In such an approach,instructions of the application are stored locally, and data for use bythe application is downloaded on a periodic basis (e.g., from anout-of-band feed, from an Internet resource, or using another suitableapproach). In some embodiments, the media guidance application is aclient-server based application. Data for use by a thick or thin clientimplemented on user equipment device 300 is retrieved on-demand byissuing requests to a server remote to the user equipment device 300. Inone example of a client-server based guidance application, controlcircuitry 304 runs a web browser that interprets web pages provided by aremote server.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is downloaded andinterpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine (runby control circuitry 304). In some embodiments, the guidance applicationmay be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), received bycontrol circuitry 304 as part of a suitable feed, and interpreted by auser agent running on control circuitry 304. For example, the guidanceapplication may be an EBIF application. In some embodiments, theguidance application may be defined by a series of JAVA-based files thatare received and run by a local virtual machine or other suitablemiddleware executed by control circuitry 304. In some of suchembodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital mediaencoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example, encodedand transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio andvideo packets of a program.

User equipment device 300 of FIG. 3 can be implemented in system 400 ofFIG. 4 as user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404,wireless user communications device 406, or any other type of userequipment suitable for accessing content, such as a non-portable gamingmachine. For simplicity, these devices may be referred to hereincollectively as user equipment or user equipment devices, and may besubstantially similar to user equipment devices described above. Userequipment devices, on which a media guidance application may beimplemented, may function as a standalone device or may be part of anetwork of devices. Various network configurations of devices may beimplemented and are discussed in more detail below.

A user equipment device utilizing at least some of the system featuresdescribed above in connection with FIG. 3 may not be classified solelyas user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, or awireless user communications device 406. For example, user televisionequipment 402 may, like some user computer equipment 404, beInternet-enabled allowing for access to Internet content, while usercomputer equipment 404 may, like some television equipment 402, includea tuner allowing for access to television programming. The mediaguidance application may have the same layout on various different typesof user equipment or may be tailored to the display capabilities of theuser equipment. For example, on user computer equipment 404, theguidance application may be provided as a web site accessed by a webbrowser. In another example, the guidance application may be scaled downfor wireless user communications devices 406.

In system 400, there is typically more than one of each type of userequipment device but only one of each is shown in FIG. 4 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize morethan one type of user equipment device and also more than one of eachtype of user equipment device.

In some embodiments, a user equipment device (e.g., user televisionequipment 402, user computer equipment 404, wireless user communicationsdevice 406) may be referred to as a “second screen device.” For example,a second screen device may supplemental content presented on a firstuser equipment device. The content presented on the second screen devicemay be any suitable content that supplements the content presented onthe first device. In some embodiments, the second screen device providesan interface for adjusting settings and display preferences of the firstdevice. In some embodiments, the second screen device is configured forinteracting with other second screen devices or for interacting with asocial network. The second screen device can be located in the same roomas the first device, a different room from the first device but in thesame house or building, or in a different building from the firstdevice.

The user may also set various settings to maintain consistent mediaguidance application settings across in-home devices and remote devices.Settings include those described herein, as well as channel and programfavorites, programming preferences that the guidance applicationutilizes to make programming recommendations, display preferences, andother desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channelas a favorite on, for example, the web site www.allrovi.com on theirpersonal computer at their office, the same channel would appear as afavorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user television equipmentand user computer equipment) as well as the user's mobile devices, ifdesired. Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device can changethe guidance experience on another user equipment device, regardless ofwhether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device.In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user,as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application.

The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network 414.Namely, user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, andwireless user communications device 406 are coupled to communicationsnetwork 414 via communications paths 408, 410, and 412, respectively.Communications network 414 may be one or more networks including theInternet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice or data network (e.g., a4G or LTE network), cable network, public switched telephone network, orother types of communications network or combinations of communicationsnetworks. Paths 408, 410, and 412 may separately or together include oneor more communications paths, such as, a satellite path, a fiber-opticpath, a cable path, a path that supports Internet communications (e.g.,IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wirelesssignals), or any other suitable wired or wireless communications path orcombination of such paths. Path 412 is drawn with dotted lines toindicate that in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4 it is awireless path and paths 408 and 410 are drawn as solid lines to indicatethey are wired paths (although these paths may be wireless paths, ifdesired). Communications with the user equipment devices may be providedby one or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a singlepath in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Although communications paths are not drawn between user equipmentdevices, these devices may communicate directly with each other viacommunication paths, such as those described above in connection withpaths 408, 410, and 412, as well as other short-range point-to-pointcommunication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wirelesspaths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or othershort-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is acertification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user equipmentdevices may also communicate with each other directly through anindirect path via communications network 414.

System 400 includes content source 416 and media guidance data source418 coupled to communications network 414 via communication paths 420and 422, respectively. Paths 420 and 422 may include any of thecommunication paths described above in connection with paths 408, 410,and 412. Communications with the content source 416 and media guidancedata source 418 may be exchanged over one or more communications paths,but are shown as a single path in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing. In addition, there may be more than one of each of contentsource 416 and media guidance data source 418, but only one of each isshown in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (The differenttypes of each of these sources are discussed below.) If desired, contentsource 416 and media guidance data source 418 may be integrated as onesource device. Although communications between sources 416 and 418 withuser equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 are shown as throughcommunications network 414, in some embodiments, sources 416 and 418 maycommunicate directly with user equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 viacommunication paths (not shown) such as those described above inconnection with paths 408, 410, and 412.

Content source 416 may include one or more types of content distributionequipment including a television distribution facility, cable systemheadend, satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g.,television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediatedistribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demandmedia servers, and other content providers. NBC is a trademark owned bythe National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademark owned by theAmerican Broadcasting Company, Inc., and HBO is a trademark owned by theHome Box Office, Inc. Content source 416 may be the originator ofcontent (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.) ormay not be the originator of content (e.g., an on-demand contentprovider, an Internet provider of content of broadcast programs fordownloading, etc.). Content source 416 may include cable sources,satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internet providers,over-the-top content providers, or other providers of content. Contentsource 416 may also include a remote media server used to storedifferent types of content (including video content selected by a user),in a location remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems andmethods for remote storage of content, and providing remotely storedcontent to user equipment are discussed in greater detail in connectionwith Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,892, issued Jul. 20, 2010, whichis hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Media guidance data source 418 may provide media guidance data, such asthe media guidance data described above. Media guidance application datamay be provided to the user equipment devices using any suitableapproach. In some embodiments, the guidance application may be astand-alone interactive television program guide that receives programguide data via a data feed (e.g., a continuous feed or trickle feed).Program schedule data and other guidance data may be provided to theuser equipment on a television channel sideband, using an in-banddigital signal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any othersuitable data transmission technique. Program schedule data and othermedia guidance data may be provided to user equipment on multiple analogor digital television channels.

In some embodiments, guidance data from media guidance data source 418may be provided to users' equipment using a client-server approach. Forexample, a user equipment device may pull media guidance data from aserver, or a server may push media guidance data to a user equipmentdevice. In some embodiments, a guidance application client residing onthe user's equipment may initiate sessions with source 418 to obtainguidance data when needed, e.g., when the guidance data is out of dateor when the user equipment device receives a request from the user toreceive data. Media guidance may be provided to the user equipment withany suitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, a user-specifiedperiod of time, a system-specified period of time, in response to arequest from user equipment, etc.). Media guidance data source 418 mayprovide user equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 the media guidanceapplication itself or software updates for the media guidanceapplication.

Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-aloneapplications implemented on user equipment devices. For example, themedia guidance application may be implemented as software or a set ofexecutable instructions which may be stored in storage 308, and executedby control circuitry 304 of a user equipment device 300. In someembodiments, media guidance applications may be client-serverapplications where only a client application resides on the userequipment device, and server application resides on a remote server. Forexample, media guidance applications may be implemented partially as aclient application on control circuitry 304 of user equipment device 300and partially on a remote server as a server application (e.g., mediaguidance data source 418) running on control circuitry of the remoteserver. When executed by control circuitry of the remote server (such asmedia guidance data source 418), the media guidance application mayinstruct the control circuitry to generate the guidance applicationdisplays and transmit the generated displays to the user equipmentdevices. The server application may instruct the control circuitry ofthe media guidance data source 418 to transmit data for storage on theuser equipment. The client application may instruct control circuitry ofthe receiving user equipment to generate the guidance applicationdisplays.

Content and/or media guidance data delivered to user equipment devices402, 404, and 406 may be over-the-top (OTT) content. OTT contentdelivery allows Internet-enabled user devices, including any userequipment device described above, to receive content that is transferredover the Internet, including any content described above, in addition tocontent received over cable or satellite connections. OTT content isdelivered via an Internet connection provided by an Internet serviceprovider (ISP), but a third party distributes the content. The ISP maynot be responsible for the viewing abilities, copyrights, orredistribution of the content, and may only transfer IP packets providedby the OTT content provider. Examples of OTT content providers includeYOUTUBE, NETFLIX, and HULU, which provide audio and video via IPpackets. Youtube is a trademark owned by Google Inc., Netflix is atrademark owned by Netflix Inc., and Hulu is a trademark owned by Hulu,LLC. OTT content providers may additionally or alternatively providemedia guidance data described above. In addition to content and/or mediaguidance data, providers of OTT content can distribute media guidanceapplications (e.g., web-based applications or cloud-based applications),or the content can be displayed by media guidance applications stored onthe user equipment device.

Media guidance system 400 is intended to illustrate a number ofapproaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment devicesand sources of content and guidance data may communicate with each otherfor the purpose of accessing content and providing media guidance. Theembodiments described herein may be applied in any one or a subset ofthese approaches, or in a system employing other approaches fordelivering content and providing media guidance. The following fourapproaches provide specific illustrations of the generalized example ofFIG. 4.

In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each otherwithin a home network. User equipment devices can communicate with eachother directly via short-range point-to-point communication schemesdescribed above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similardevice provided on a home network, or via communications network 414.Each of the multiple individuals in a single home may operate differentuser equipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may bedesirable for various media guidance information or settings to becommunicated between the different user equipment devices. For example,it may be desirable for users to maintain consistent media guidanceapplication settings on different user equipment devices within a homenetwork, as described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/179,410, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different types ofuser equipment devices in a home network may also communicate with eachother to transmit content. For example, a user may transmit content fromuser computer equipment to a portable video player or portable musicplayer.

In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment bywhich they access content and obtain media guidance. For example, someusers may have home networks that are accessed by in-home and mobiledevices. Users may control in-home devices via a media guidanceapplication implemented on a remote device. For example, users mayaccess an online media guidance application on a website via a personalcomputer at their office, or a mobile device such as a PDA orweb-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set various settings (e.g.,recordings, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidanceapplication to control the user's in-home equipment. The online guidemay control the user's equipment directly, or by communicating with amedia guidance application on the user's in-home equipment. Varioussystems and methods for user equipment devices communicating, where theuser equipment devices are in locations remote from each other, isdiscussed in, for example, Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,046,801, issuedOct. 25, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside and outsidea home can use their media guidance application to communicate directlywith content source 416 to access content. Specifically, within a home,users of user television equipment 402 and user computer equipment 404may access the media guidance application to navigate among and locatedesirable content. Users may also access the media guidance applicationoutside of the home using wireless user communications devices 406 tonavigate among and locate desirable content.

In a fourth approach, user equipment devices may operate in a cloudcomputing environment to access cloud services. In a cloud computingenvironment, various types of computing services for content sharing,storage or distribution (e.g., video sharing sites or social networkingsites) are provided by a collection of network-accessible computing andstorage resources, referred to as “the cloud.” For example, the cloudcan include a collection of server computing devices, which may belocated centrally or at distributed locations, that provide cloud-basedservices to various types of users and devices connected via a networksuch as the Internet via communications network 414. These cloudresources may include one or more content sources 416 and one or moremedia guidance data sources 418. In addition or in the alternative, theremote computing sites may include other user equipment devices, such asuser television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, and wirelessuser communications device 406. For example, the other user equipmentdevices may provide access to a stored copy of a video or a streamedvideo. In such embodiments, user equipment devices may operate in apeer-to-peer manner without communicating with a central server.

The cloud provides access to services, such as content storage, contentsharing, or social networking services, among other examples, as well asaccess to any content described above, for user equipment devices.Services can be provided in the cloud through cloud computing serviceproviders, or through other providers of online services. For example,the cloud-based services can include a content storage service, acontent sharing site, a social networking site, or other services viawhich user-sourced content is distributed for viewing by others onconnected devices. These cloud-based services may allow a user equipmentdevice to store content to the cloud and to receive content from thecloud rather than storing content locally and accessing locally-storedcontent.

A user may use various content capture devices, such as camcorders,digital cameras with video mode, audio recorders, mobile phones, andhandheld computing devices, to record content. The user can uploadcontent to a content storage service on the cloud either directly, forexample, from user computer equipment 404 or wireless usercommunications device 406 having content capture feature. Alternatively,the user can first transfer the content to a user equipment device, suchas user computer equipment 404. The user equipment device storing thecontent uploads the content to the cloud using a data transmissionservice on communications network 414. In some embodiments, the userequipment device itself is a cloud resource, and other user equipmentdevices can access the content directly from the user equipment deviceon which the user stored the content.

Cloud resources may be accessed by a user equipment device using, forexample, a web browser, a media guidance application, a desktopapplication, a mobile application, and/or any combination of accessapplications of the same. The user equipment device may be a cloudclient that relies on cloud computing for application delivery, or theuser equipment device may have some functionality without access tocloud resources. For example, some applications running on the userequipment device may be cloud applications, i.e., applications deliveredas a service over the Internet, while other applications may be storedand run on the user equipment device. In some embodiments, a user devicemay receive content from multiple cloud resources simultaneously. Forexample, a user device can stream audio from one cloud resource whiledownloading content from a second cloud resource. Or a user device candownload content from multiple cloud resources for more efficientdownloading. In some embodiments, user equipment devices can use cloudresources for processing operations such as the processing operationsperformed by processing circuitry described in relation to FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an illustrative example of one component of a user detectioncomponent (e.g., user detection component 316 (FIG. 3)), which may beaccessed by a media application in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure. FIG. 5 shows user detection component 500, which may beused to identify the gaze point of a user of user device 300, in orderto determine the identity (e.g., in order to retrieve a user profile)and/or the position (e.g., in order to determine a viewing distance ofthe user). User detection component 500 includes processor 502, lightsource 504, and optical sensor 506. Light source 504 transmits lightthat reaches at least one eye of a user, and optical sensor 506 isdirected at the user to sense reflected light. Optical sensor 506transmits collected data to processor 502, and based on the datareceived from optical sensor 506, processor 502 determines a user's gazepoint.

In some embodiments, user detection component 500 is configured fordetermining a gaze point of a single user. In other embodiments, userdetection component 500 may determine gaze points for a plurality ofusers (e.g., user 102, user 104, user 106, user 108, and user 110 (FIG.1)). User detection component 500 may identify multiple users of userequipment device 300 as well as identify the identities of particularuser (e.g., via optical recognition techniques).

Processor 502 may be integrated with one or more light sources 504 andone or more optical sensors 506 in a single device. Additionally oralternatively, one or more light sources 504 and one or more opticalsensors 506 may be housed separately from processor 502 and in wirelessor wired communication with processor 502. One or more of processors502, light sources 504, and optical sensors 506 may be integrated intouser equipment device 300.

Processor 502 may be similar to processing circuitry 306 describedabove. In some embodiments, processor 502 may be processing circuitry306, with processing circuitry 306 in communication with light source504 and optical sensor 506. In other embodiments, processor 502 may beseparate from but optionally in communication with processing circuitry306.

Light source 504 transmits light to one or both eyes of one or moreusers. Light source 504 may emit, for example, infrared (IR) light, nearinfrared light, or visible light. The light emitted by light source 504may be collimated or non-collimated. The light is reflected in a user'seye, forming, for example, the reflection from the outer surface of thecornea (i.e. a first Purkinje image), the reflection from the innersurface of the cornea (i.e. a second Purkinje image), the reflectionfrom the outer (anterior) surface of the lens (i.e. a third Purkinjeimage), and/or the reflection from the inner (posterior) surface of thelens (i.e. a fourth Purkinje image).

Optical sensor 506 collects visual information, such as an image orseries of images, of one or both of one or more users' eyes. Opticalsensor 506 transmits the collected image(s) to processor 502, whichprocesses the received image(s) to identify a glint (i.e. cornealreflection) and/or other reflection in one or both eyes of one or moreusers. Processor 502 may also determine the location of the center ofthe pupil of one or both eyes of one or more users. For each eye,processor 502 may compare the location of the pupil to the location ofthe glint and/or other reflection to estimate the gaze point. Processor502 may also store or obtain information describing the location of oneor more light sources 504 and/or the location of one or more opticalsensors 506 relative to display 312. Using this information, processor502 may determine a user's gaze point on display 312.

In some embodiments, user detection component 500 performs best if theposition of a user's head is fixed or relatively stable. In otherembodiments, user detection component 500 is configured to account for auser's head movement, which allows the user a more natural viewingexperience than if the user's head were fixed in a particular position.In some embodiments, the media guidance application may be configured totrack a user. For example, if a user moves from an initial position(e.g., associated with one viewing direction) to a different position(e.g., associated with a different viewing direction), the mediaguidance application may detect the movement and adjust the presentationof the media and supplemental content (e.g., change the viewingdirection associated with supplemental content corresponding to theuser) accordingly.

In some embodiments accounting for a user's head movement, userdetection component 500 includes two or more optical sensors 506. Forexample, two cameras may be arranged to form a stereo vision system forobtaining a 3D position of the user's eye or eyes; this allows processor502 to compensate for head movement when determining the user's gazepoint. The two or more optical sensors 506 may be part of a single unitor may be separate units. For example, user equipment device 300 mayinclude two cameras used as optical sensors 506, or user detectioncomponent 500 in communication with user equipment device 300 mayinclude two optical sensors 506. In other embodiments, each of userequipment device 300 and user detection component 500 may include anoptical sensor, and processor 502 receives image data from the opticalsensor of user equipment device 300 and the optical sensor of userdetection component 500. Processor 502 may receive data identifying thelocation of optical sensor 506 relative to display 312 and/or relativeto each other and use this information when determining the gaze point.

In other embodiments accounting for a user's head movement, userdetection component 500 includes two or more light sources forgenerating multiple glints. For example, two light sources 504 maycreate glints at different locations of an eye; having information onthe two glints allows the processor to determine a 3D position of theuser's eye or eyes, allowing processor 502 to compensate for headmovement. Processor 502 may also receive data identifying the locationof light sources 504 relative to display 312 and/or relative to eachother and use this information when determining the gaze point.

In some embodiments, other types of eye contact detection componentsthat do not utilize a light source may be used. For example, opticalsensor 506 and processor 502 may track other features of a user's eye,such as the retinal blood vessels or other features inside or on thesurface of the user's eye, and follow these features as the eye rotates.Any other equipment or method for determining one or more users' gazepoint(s) not discussed above may be used in addition to or instead ofthe above-described embodiments of user detection component 500.

In some embodiments, user detection component 500 may also be used toidentify a user. For example, user detection component 500 may includeone or more content capture device (e.g., a camera). The content capturedevice may obtain an image of a current user. The media guidanceapplication (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) may then comparethe obtained image with a database of user images and correspondingnames. Upon detecting a match between the obtained image and an image inthe database, the media guidance application may retrieve a name (e.g.,identifying a user or a user profile) associated with the matched image.

It should be noted that user detection component 500 is but one type ofcomponent that may be incorporated into or accessible by detectionmodule 316 (FIG. 3) or the media application. Other types of components,which may generate other types of data (e.g., video, audio, textual,etc.) are fully within the bounds of this disclosure.

FIG. 6 is an illustrative location at which multiple users are viewing amedia asset at different viewing directions. As shown in FIG. 6,location 600 includes a user device 602 currently generating aholographic image being viewed by user 604 and user 610. As user 604 anduser 610 are located at different positions relative to user device 602,user 604 and user 610 are associated with different viewing directions.User 604 is associated with viewing direction 606, and user 610 isassociated with viewing direction 608.

As user 604 and user 610 are associated with different viewingdirection, user 604 and user 610 may see different images. For example,a holographic media asset generated by user device 602 may include aplurality of frames all associate with a single instance of theholographic media asset. As each of the plurality of frames isassociated with a different viewing angle, a difference in the framesassociated with viewing direction 606 and viewing direction 608 maycause user 604 and user 608 to see a different image associated with themedia asset.

In some embodiments, a media guidance application may determine (e.g.,via user detection component 500 (FIG. 5)) a position of user 604 anduser 610 relative to user device 602. Based on the position of user 604and user 610, the media guidance application (e.g., via processingcircuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) may determine a viewing direction for user 604and user 610. For example, using information received (e.g., via userdetection component 500 (FIG. 5)) indicating the position (e.g., in x,y, z coordinates) of a user (e.g., user 604 or user 610) and/or the gazepoint of the user, the media guidance application (e.g., via processingcircuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) may determine one or more angles between userdevice 602 and the user (e.g., user 604 or 610). The media guidanceapplication may combined the one or more angles (e.g., a vectorcoordinate in the x direction and a vector coordinate in the ydirection) to determine a viewing direction (e.g., viewing direction 606or viewing direction 608) associated with the user (e.g., user 604 oruser 610).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may then compare theviewing direction (e.g., viewing direction 606 and viewing direction608) to a database (e.g., located locally on storage 308 (FIG. 3) onuser device 602 or remotely on media content source 416 (FIG. 4), mediaguidance data source 418 (FIG. 4), or any other location accessible viacommunications network 414 (FIG. 4)) indicating the coordinates ofviewing directions associated with each frame of the plurality of framesof a media asset. For example, viewing direction 606 (e.g., associatedwith user 604) may, in some embodiments, be associated with a firstframe of the plurality of frames and viewing direction 608 (e.g.,associated with user 610) may be associated with a second frame of theplurality of frames.

After determining the frame of the plurality of frames associated witheach viewing direction (e.g., viewing direction 606 and viewingdirection 608), the media guidance application may modify the frame(e.g., by included supplemental content) according to user criteria. Forexample, the media guidance application may receive (e.g., via I/O path302 (FIG. 3)) user requests for particular content. In response, themedia guidance application may modify a frame of the plurality of framesassociated with a user to include the particular content.

For example, for the series of frames associated with viewing direction606 (e.g., one frame of the plurality of frames corresponding to eachinstance of the media asset), the media guidance application (e.g.,implemented on user device 602) may modify each frame or retrieve (e.g.,from storage 308 (FIG. 3), media content source 416 (FIG. 4), mediaguidance data source 418 (FIG. 4), or any other location accessible viacommunications network 414 (FIG. 4)) a frame that includes theparticular content requested by a user.

Additionally or alternatively, the media guidance application (e.g., viaprocessing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) may determine particular content forpresentation to a user. For example, the media guidance application mayaccess a user profile (e.g., located locally on storage 308 (FIG. 3) onuser device 602 or remotely on media content source 416 (FIG. 4), mediaguidance data source 418 (FIG. 4), or any other location accessible viacommunications network 414 (FIG. 4)) that indicates the particularcharacteristics (e.g., genre, actor, etc.) and/or media assets (e.g.,titles, series, etc.) of interest to the user. Based on the informationin the user profile, the media guidance application (e.g., viaprocessing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) may select media assets from adatabase of available media assets (e.g., located on media contentsource 416 (FIG. 4)) that match and/or have characteristics that matchthe characteristics and/or media assets identified in the user profile.

Additionally or alternatively, the media guidance application (e.g., viaprocessing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) may receive recommendations ofparticular content for presentation to a user. For example, the mediaguidance application may access social networks associated with the userand based on information (e.g., posts, status updates, microblogentries, etc.) received from the social networks, the media guidanceapplication may recommend particular content. The media guidanceapplication may also receive (e.g., from media content source 416 (FIG.4), media guidance data source 418 (FIG. 4), or any other locationaccessible via communications network 414 (FIG. 4)) recommendations ofparticular content via other third party sources indicating ratings,current events, and/or any other information that may interest a user.

After selecting the particular content, the media guidance application(e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) may modify a frame of theplurality of frames associated with a user (e.g., based on a viewingdirection associated with a user) to include the particular content, ormay retrieve a substitute frame (e.g., from media content source 416(FIG. 4), media guidance data source 418 (FIG. 4), or any other locationaccessible via communications network 414 (FIG. 4)) as described inprocess 800 (FIG. 8) below. The media guidance application may includethe modified/substituted frame in the plurality of frames of the mediaasset. As a result, a user (e.g., user 604 or user 610) associated witha viewing direction (e.g., viewing direction 606 or viewing direction608) corresponding to the modified/substituted frame may view theparticular content as supplemental content while viewing the mediaasset. Moreover, as user 604 is associated with a different viewingdirection than user 610, user 604 may simultaneously view differentsupplemental content than supplemental content view by user 610.

FIG. 7 shows illustrative steps for generating a display of supplementalcontent at a determined viewing direction simultaneously with the mediaasset. It should be noted that process 700 or any step thereof, could beperformed on a media guidance application implement on any of thedevices shown in FIGS. 3-4. For example, process 700 may be executed bycontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3) as instructed by the media guidanceapplication. In addition, one or more steps of process 700 may beincorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any otherprocesses (e.g., process 800 (FIG. 8), process 1000 (FIG. 10), process1100 (FIG. 11), etc. as described herein.

At step 702, the media guidance application generates a display of mediacontent at a user device, in which the media content includes aplurality of frames, and in which a first frame of the plurality offrames includes first supplemental content and a second frame of theplurality of frames includes second supplemental content. For example,in order to generate holographic media content a media guidanceapplication implemented on a user device (e.g., user equipment device402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4)) and/or implemented upon user device 602(FIG. 6) may present (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) a singleinstance of media content as a combination of multiple frames, in whicheach of the multiple frames corresponds to the same instance of themedia content, but from slightly different viewing directions.

The media guidance application may also receive (e.g., via I/O path 302(FIG. 3)) multiple frames corresponding to the same viewing direction atthe same instance, in which the multiple frames contain different typesof supplemental content. For example, one frame may include Frenchsubtitles and a different frame may include Spanish subtitles.Additionally or alternatively, one frame may include advertisements forone type of products and a different frame may include links toadditional information about objects in the media content.

At step 704, the media guidance application selects, based on a usercriterion, whether to present the first supplemental content or thesecond supplemental content to a user. In some embodiments, a usercriterion may relate to a user input (e.g., received via user inputinterface 310 (FIG. 3)). For example, a user may select to receive themedia content with Spanish subtitles. In such a case, the media guidanceapplication (e.g., via processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) would select aframe featuring Spanish subtitles as the supplemental content.

Alternatively or additionally, the user criterion may correspond to arequirement other than a user input. For example a user criterion mayrelate to a parent control option for blocking out objectionablecontent. In such a case, one frame may include an overlay preventing thedisplay of objectionable content while a different frame does notinclude the overlay. Based on the parent control (e.g., preventing adisplay of objectionable content), the frame with the overlay may beselected.

Alternatively or additionally, the user criterion may correspond torequirement for disabling supplemental content. In such a case, oneframe may include a supplemental content while a different frame doesnot include the supplemental content. In response to the user criterionto prevent supplemental content, the media guidance application mayselect the frame without the supplemental content.

The media guidance application may also cross-reference a user profileto determine a user criterion. For example, the media guidanceapplication may retrieve information (e.g., from storage 308 (FIG. 3))associated with the preferences of the user. Based on the preferences(e.g., indicating the type of supplemental content enjoyed by the user),the media guidance application (e.g., via processing circuitry 306 (FIG.3)) may present a frame featuring supplemental content that correspondsto the user preferences.

At step 706, in response to the selection, the media guidanceapplication determines a viewing direction in which the selected firstsupplemental content or the selected second supplemental content ispresented to the user. For example, the media guidance application mayretrieve information (e.g., using user detection component 500 (FIG. 5))indicating the current location of the user. The media guidanceapplication may then select a viewing direction (e.g., from a pluralityof viewing directions associated with the display of the media content)that corresponds to the location of the user (e.g., as described inrelation to FIG. 6 above).

At step 708, the media guidance application generates a display of theselected first supplemental content or the selected second supplementalcontent at the determined viewing direction simultaneously with themedia asset. For example, the media guidance application may generate apresentation of the selected supplemental content simultaneously withthe media content to multiple users (e.g., users 604 and 610 (FIG. 6)).The media guidance application may use a user device (e.g., user device602 (FIG. 6)), which is configured to present holographic media asset.

It should be noted that any of the devices or equipment discussed inrelation to FIGS. 3-4 could be used to perform one of more of the stepsin FIG. 7. It is also contemplated that the steps or descriptions ofFIG. 7 may be used with any other embodiment of this disclosure. Inaddition, the steps and descriptions described in relation to FIG. 7 maybe done in alternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes ofthis disclosure. For example, each of these steps may be performed inany order or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lagor increase the speed of the system or method.

FIG. 8 is a flow-chart of illustrative steps involved in selectingframes for generating holographic supplemental content simultaneouslywith a media asset. It should be noted that process 800 or any stepthereof, could be performed on a media guidance application implement onany of the devices shown in FIGS. 3-4. For example, process 800 may beexecuted by control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3) as instructed by the mediaguidance application. In addition, one or more steps of process 800 maybe incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any otherprocesses (e.g., process 700 (FIG. 7), process 1000 (FIG. 10), process1100 (FIG. 11), etc. as described herein.

At step 802, the media guidance application receives a request for thedisplay of a holographic media asset to be displayed simultaneously withsupplemental content from a user. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine (e.g., via processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)),in response to a user input (e.g., via user input interface 310 (FIG.3)) received at a display device (e.g., a display associated with, orincorporated into, user equipment device 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4))or at user device 602 (FIG. 6) or based on a user profile (e.g.,retrieved from storage 308 (FIG. 3)) associated with a user (e.g.,identified using user detection component 500 (FIG. 5)) that the userwould like supplemental content displayed simultaneously with the mediaasset. For example, the holographic media asset may include a pluralityof frames for each instance of the media asset. Based on the preferences(e.g., as determined by a user input or a user profile) associated witheach user at a particular viewing direction, the media guidanceapplication may modify and/or substitute the default frame of a mediaasset with a frame including supplemental content corresponding to theuser.

At step 804, the media guidance application receives a set of framescorresponding to a plurality of viewing directions for an instance of aholographic media asset. In some embodiments, step 804 may correspondwith step 702 (FIG. 7). For example, a media guidance applicationimplemented on a user device (e.g., user equipment device 402, 404,and/or 406 (FIG. 4)) and/or implemented upon user device 602 (FIG. 6)receives (e.g., via I/O path 302 (FIG. 3) a series of frames that makesup an instance of a media asset. For example, as described above inorder to generate a holographic media asset, the media guidanceapplication instructs (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) a userdevice (e.g., user device 602 (FIG. 6)) to generate a plurality offrames each corresponding to a particular viewing direction. A user(e.g., user 604 (FIG. 6)) viewing the media asset from a particularviewing direction (e.g., viewing direction 606 (FIG. 6)) then views theframe associated with the particular viewing direction.

At step 806, the media guidance application selects a framecorresponding to a viewing direction for the plurality of viewingdirections. For example, the media guidance application may process(e.g., using processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) each frame of theplurality of frames corresponding to an instance of the media asset. Insome embodiments, each frame may be process simultaneously or each framemay be processed in successive iterations.

At step 808, the media guidance application determines whether or notsupplemental content has been requested for the viewing direction. Forexample, the media guidance application determines (e.g., usingprocessing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) whether or not the user thatrequested the supplemental content is associated with the viewingdirection of the frame. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine (e.g., via user detection component 500 (FIG. 5)) the locationof the user. Based on the location, the media guidance applicationdetermines (e.g., via processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) a viewingdirection of the user (e.g., as described in relation to FIG. 6 above).If supplemental content has not been requested at the viewing direction,the media guidance application proceeds to step 810 and associates theframe with the viewing direction in the presentation of the media assetbefore proceeding to step 818.

At step 812, the media guidance application determines whether or notthe frame corresponds to the requested supplemental content. The mediaguidance application may determine that the received frame hassupplemental content based on analyzing (e.g., using processingcircuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) data (e.g., media guidance data received withthe media asset) indicating that the current frame includes supplementalcontent (and/or the type of supplemental content). The media guidanceapplication may also use various types of object recognition (asdescribed above) to determines whether or not the current frame includessupplemental content. Additionally or alternatively, the media guidanceapplication may determine that the received frame has a particular typeof supplemental content based on analyzing (e.g., using processingcircuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) data (e.g., media guidance data received withthe media asset) indicating that the current frame includes supplementalcontent of a particular type or using the object recognition technologydescribed above. For example, the media guidance application may receivemultiple frames (e.g., each corresponding to the same instance in amedia asset) including various types of supplemental content (e.g.,subtitles in various languages, advertisements for various products,etc.). The media guidance application may then determines (e.g., viaprocessing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) whether or not the particularsupplemental content corresponds to the current user (e.g., matches thetype of supplemental content requested via user input interface 310(FIG. 3)) or is associated with the user based on a comparison with auser profile.

If the media guidance application determines that the frame does notcorrespond to the requested supplemental content, the media guidanceapplication retrieves a substitute frame for the viewing direction atthe instance of the media asset at step 814. For example, the mediaguidance application may cross-reference a database (e.g., located amedia content source 416 (FIG. 4), media guidance data source 418,and/or any location accessible by communications network 414 (FIG. 4))associated with substitute frames and/or media assets that includeparticular types of supplemental content. In response to determiningthat the frame does not include the requested supplemental informationat the viewing direction of the user, the media guidance application mayquery the database for a frame that does include the requestedsupplemental information and return to step 812. It should be noted thatin some embodiments, the media guidance application may instead ofquerying a database for a particular frame that corresponds to thesupplemental content and the viewing direction of the user, may querythe database for an entire media asset (including a series of framesmaking up each viewing direction) that includes the supplemental contentat the viewing direction of the user. If the media guidance applicationdetermines (e.g. via processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) that thesupplemental content is included in the frame, the media guidanceapplication (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) associates theframe with the viewing direction of the user in the media asset at step816.

At step 818, the media guidance application determines whether or not toselect a frame for a different viewing direction. For example, the mediaguidance application may determine (e.g., via user detection component500 (FIG. 5)) whether or not there are additional user viewing theholographic media asset. if so, the media guidance application returnsto step 804 to process a frame associated with the viewing direction ofthat user. If the media guidance application determines (e.g., via userdetection component 500 (FIG. 5)) that there are no additional usersviewing the holographic media asset, the media guidance applicationproceeds to step 818.

At step 820, the media guidance application generates a display of theholographic media assets with the associated frame(s). For example, themedia guidance application may generate (e.g., using control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) for display (e.g., on display 312 (FIG. 3)) a holographicmedia asset shown to a plurality of users (e.g., as described inrelation to FIG. 6). It should be noted that in some embodiments, themedia guidance application may perform process 800 for each frames ofthe plurality of frames for each instance of the media asset before themedia asset is presented to a user. For example, the media guidanceapplication may perform (e.g., using control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3))multiple iterations (e.g., either successively or simultaneously) togenerate a holographic media asset for presentation to one or moreusers. The holographic media asset may then be stored (e.g., locally onstorage 308 (FIG. 3) or remotely on a database located at media contentsource 416, media guidance data source 418, and/or any locationaccessible via communications network 414 (FIG. 4)) until the mediaasset is requested by a user.

Additionally or alternatively, the media guidance may perform process800 in real-time. For example, the media guidance application maygenerate for display each instance of the media asset as it is process(e.g., according to process 800). In some embodiments, the mediaguidance application may buffer (e.g., in storage 308 (FIG. 3)) aportion of the holographic media asset in order to prevent playbackdisruption.

It should also be noted, that in some embodiments, the media guidanceapplication may retrieve (e.g., from media content source 416 (FIG. 4)or any location accessible via communications network 414 (FIG. 4)) anentire media asset (as opposed to a single frame) including thesupplemental content at the viewing direction of the user. For example,in some embodiments, the media guidance application may receiveindividual frames (e.g., corresponding to the particular instance ofsupplemental content needed by the user) or may receive a series offrames (e.g., corresponding to a segment or the entire presentation of amedia asset). Instead of retrieving a single frame and substituting theframe into the media asset, the media guidance application may retrievean entire media asset with the supplemental content at the viewingdirection already included.

It should be noted that any of the devices or equipment discussed inrelation to FIGS. 3-4 could be used to perform one of more of the stepsin FIG. 8. It is also contemplated that the steps or descriptions ofFIG. 8 may be used with any other embodiment of this disclosure. Inaddition, the steps and descriptions described in relation to FIG. 8 maybe done in alternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes ofthis disclosure. For example, each of these steps may be performed inany order or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lagor increase the speed of the system or method.

FIGS. 9A-D show illustrative examples of an optical user device used toview media content that when viewed by a user is perceived by the userto have a 3D effect. In some embodiments, optical user device 900 may beany stereoscopic device. Furthermore, it should be noted that althoughFIGS. 9A-D are described in relation to active shutter stereoscopicsystems the embodiments described herein could also be applied to otherstereoscopic techniques. For example, in some embodiments, instead ofshutters (e.g., shutter 902 and shutter 904) a passive stereoscopicsystem (e.g., based on the polarization of the lens of optical userdevice 900) may be employed. In such an embodiment, a media guidanceapplication may synchronize the display of the media content with thepolarization of the optical user device, instead of opening and closingthe shutters on the optical user device.

In FIGS. 9A-D, optical user device 900 is implemented as headwear (e.g.,glasses) worn by a user. It should be noted that in some embodiments,optical user device 900 may be configured as any type of stereoscopicoptical device. For example, in some embodiments, optical user device900 may be a LCD shutter glasses, circular polarized glasses, anaglyphglasses, chroma depth glasses. Moreover, in stereoscopic optical devicesthat do not use active shutters systems (e.g., anaglyph glasses), theoptical user device may be re-purposed to include the active shuttersystem or may be re-purposed to be polarized to selectively view framerates as described herein.

In FIGS. 9A-D, optical user device 900 includes shutter 902 and shutter904. Shutter 902 and shutter 904 may operate in either an open positionor a closed position. Based on the position of a shutter (e.g., shutter902 or shutter 904), a user using optical user device 900 may or may notview a media asset with an eye (e.g., a right eye or a left eye)associated with the shutter. In some embodiments, the rapid opening andclosing of the shutters associated with different eyes of a user maycreate a parallax effect, which causes a user to perceive a speciallyformatted media asset viewed through optical device 900 as appearing inthree dimensions.

FIGS. 9A-D also includes display 906. In some embodiments, display 906represents a display on a device (e.g., user equipment device 402, 404,and/or 406 (FIG. 4)), which includes frames of a multiplexed media asset(e.g., as described below in FIG. 12). The synchronization of theopening and closing of shutters 902 and 904 creates both the 3D effectas well as the selective display of supplemental content to the firstuser. For example, in FIGS. 9A-D, display 906 is alternating between aframe associated with supplemental content for the first user and aframe with different supplemental content for a second user.

FIGS. 9A-D represent a repeating pattern in which a synchronizationscheme of a user device (e.g., optical user device 900) prevents a userfrom viewing the supplemental content for another viewer. As shown inFIGS. 9A-D, the opening and closing of the shutters of optical userdevice 900 forms a pattern. This pattern, or synchronization scheme, issynchronized with the display of frames of a media asset associated witheach eye of a user. In addition, this pattern is synchronized with arefresh or frame-rate of a user equipment device (e.g., user equipmentdevice 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4)) that may generate display 906. Forexample, the changing frames of display 906 in FIGS. 9A-D may correspondto a frame-rate of a multiplexed media asset viewed by a user withoptical user device 900.

The media guidance application (e.g., via instructions issued fromcontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) may ensure that optical user device 900and the user equipment device associated with display 906 share the samesynchronization scheme. For example, the media guidance applicationensures that an open operation performed by the optical user deviceoccurs on, and lasts the duration of, a single refresh (e.g., thedisplay of a single frame) on the user equipment device. Likewise, aclose operation performed by the optical user device occurs on, andlasts the duration of, a single refresh (e.g., the display of a singleframe). Thus, in a series of four frames (e.g., corresponding to FIGS.9A-D), the user views a first frame in FIG. 9A (i.e., when the opticaluser device is performing an open operation), is prevented from viewingthe second frame in FIG. 9B (i.e., when the optical user device isperforming a close operation), views the third frame in FIG. 9C (i.e.,when the optical user device performing an open operation), and isprevented from viewing the fourth frame in FIG. 9D (i.e., when theoptical user device is performing a close operation).

The media guidance application also ensures that optical user device 900and the user equipment device associated with display 906 are in thecorrect phase. For example, the media guidance application (e.g., viainstructions issued from control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) ensures thatone of the shutters (e.g., shutter 902 or shutter 904) associated withoptical user device 900 worn by a first user is open when display 906 ispresent content for the first user, and is closed with display 906presents content for the second user.

For example, in FIG. 9A, display 906 is currently showing supplementalcontent associated with a left eye of a first user. Due to thesynchronization scheme determined by the media guidance application(e.g., via processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)), shutter 902 is currentlyin a closed position. While in a closed position, the first user wearingoptical user device 900 cannot view displayed media content from his/herright eye, which is associated with shutter 902. Alternatively, shutter904 is open. Consequently, the first user can view content with his/herleft eye, which is associated with shutter 904.

In FIG. 9B, display 906 is currently showing supplemental contentassociated with a left eye of a second user. Due to the synchronizationscheme determined by the media guidance application (e.g., viaprocessing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)), both shutter 902 and shutter 904 ofoptical user device 900 worn by the first user are currently closedpreventing the first user from seeing any of the supplemental contentfor the second user.

in FIG. 9C, display 906 is currently showing supplemental contentassociated with a right eye of the first user. Due to thesynchronization scheme determined by the media guidance application(e.g., via processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)), shutter 904 is currentlyin a closed position. While in a closed position, the first user wearingoptical user device 900 cannot view displayed media content from ahis/her left eye, which is associated with shutter 904. Alternatively,shutter 902 is open. Consequently, the first user can view content withhis/her right eye, which is associated with shutter 902.

Finally, in FIG. 9D, display 906 is currently showing supplementalcontent associated with a right eye of the second user. Due to thesynchronization scheme determined by the media guidance application(e.g., via processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)), both shutter 902 and 904are once again closed preventing the first user from seeing any of thesupplemental content for the second user.

In some embodiments, the pattern of opening and closing of shuttersshown in FIGS. 9A-D may continue until the end of the media asset. Asthe media asset continues, the media guidance application maintains thesynchronization of optical user device 900 and the display of frames ofa media asset in display 906. If the media guidance application detectsa disruption (e.g., a pause in the media asset), the media guidanceapplication (e.g., via instructions issued from control circuitry 304(FIG. 3)) ensures that optical user device 900 and the user equipmentdevice associated with display 906 resynchronize.

FIG. 10 is a flow-chart of illustrative steps involved in is aflow-chart of illustrative steps involved in selecting supplementalcontent. It should be noted that process 1000 or any step thereof, couldbe performed on a media guidance application implement on any of thedevices shown in FIGS. 3-4. For example, process 1000 may be executed bycontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3) as instructed by the media guidanceapplication. In addition, one or more steps of process 1000 may beincorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any otherprocesses (e.g., process 700 (FIG. 7), process 800 (FIG. 8), process1100 (FIG. 11), etc. as described herein.

At step 1002, the media guidance application receives receive mediacontent, comprising a plurality of frames, in which a user perceives a3D effect in the media content when viewed using an optical user device,and in which a first frame of the plurality of frames includes firstsupplemental content and a second frame of the plurality of framesincludes second supplemental content. For example, the media guidanceapplication may receive (e.g., via I/O path 302 (FIG. 3)) a plurality offrames associated with a media asset. The plurality of frames maycorrespond to the frames of the media asset associated with differenteyes of a user as well as different supplemental content (e.g., asdescribed in relation to FIGS. 9A-D). The media guidance application mayreceive the frames from local storage (e.g., storage 308 (FIG. 3)) orremote storage (e.g., media content source 416, media guidance datasource 418, and/or any location accessible via communications network414 (FIG. 4)).

At step 1004, the media guidance application selects, based on a usercriterion, whether to present the first supplemental content or thesecond supplemental content to a user. In some embodiments, a usercriterion may relate to a user input (e.g., received via user inputinterface 310 (FIG. 3)). For example, a user may select to receive themedia content with Spanish subtitles. In such a case, the media guidanceapplication (e.g., via processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) may select asynchronization scheme such that frames featuring Spanish subtitles aredisplayed to a user. For example, the synchronization scheme maycorrespond to the “Supplemental Content for the User” as described inrelation to FIG. 9. Specifically, the frame with the Spanish subtitlesmay be presented to the user (e.g., a frame associated with a right eyepresentation is shown while the shutter for the right eye is open).

A user criterion may also correspond to a requirement other than a userinput. For example a user criterion may relate to a parent controloption for blocking out objectionable content. In such a case, one framemay include an overlay preventing the display of objectionable contentwhile a different frame does not include the overlay. Based on theparent control (e.g., preventing a display of objectionable content),the frame with the overlay may be presented to the user (e.g., a frameassociated with a right eye presentation is shown while the shutter forthe right eye is open), while the frame without the overlay may be shownwhile the shutters for both eyes are closed.

The media guidance application may also cross-reference a user profileto determine a user criterion. For example, the media guidanceapplication may retrieve information (e.g., from storage 308 (FIG. 3))associated with the preferences of the user.

At step 1006, in response to selecting the first supplemental content,the media guidance application determines a synchronization scheme forthe optical user device in which the first supplemental content in thefirst frame of the plurality of frames is presented to the user with themedia asset and the second supplemental content in the second frame ofthe plurality of frames is not presented to the user. For example, basedon the preferences (e.g., indicating the type of supplemental contentenjoyed by the user), the media guidance application (e.g., viaprocessing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) may generate a synchronization schemesuch that a series of frames featuring supplemental content thatcorresponds to the user preferences are displayed (e.g., are shown on adisplay device (e.g., user equipment device 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG.4)) when either shutter 902 (FIGS. 9A-D) or shutter 904 (FIGS. 9A-D) ofoptical user device 900 (FIGS. 9A-D) are open), while a series of framesthat do not feature supplemental content or a series of frames thatfeature different supplemental content are not presented (e.g., areshown on a display device (e.g., user equipment device 402, 404, and/or406 (FIG. 4)) when either shutter 902 (FIGS. 9A-D) or shutter 904 (FIGS.9A-D) of optical user device 900 (FIGS. 9A-D) are open).

It should be noted that any of the devices or equipment discussed inrelation to FIGS. 3-4 could be used to perform one of more of the stepsin FIG. 10. It is also contemplated that the steps or descriptions ofFIG. 10 may be used with any other embodiment of this disclosure. Inaddition, the steps and descriptions described in relation to FIG. 10may be done in alternative orders or in parallel to further the purposesof this disclosure. For example, each of these steps may be performed inany order or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lagor increase the speed of the system or method.

FIG. 11 is a flow-chart of illustrative steps involved in is aflow-chart of illustrative steps involved in selecting supplementalcontent. It should be noted that process 1100 or any step thereof, couldbe performed on a media guidance application implement on any of thedevices shown in FIGS. 3-4. For example, process 1100 may be executed bycontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3) as instructed by the media guidanceapplication. In addition, one or more steps of process 1100 may beincorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any otherprocesses (e.g., process 700 (FIG. 7), process 800 (FIG. 8), process1000 (FIG. 10), etc. as described herein.

At step 1102, the media guidance application receives a frame of aplurality of frames with an optical device. In some embodiments, step1102 may correspond with step 1002 (FIG. 10). For example, a mediaguidance application implemented on a user device (e.g., user equipmentdevice 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4)) or implemented upon an opticaluser device (e.g., optical user device 900 (FIGS. 9A-D)) receives (e.g.,via I/O path 302 (FIG. 3) a series of frames that makes up an instanceof a media asset.

At step 1104, the media guidance application determines whether or notthe received frames has supplemental content. For example, the mediaguidance application may receive (e.g., via I/O path 302 (FIG. 3)) andprocess (e.g., via processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) multiple types offrames. For example, the media guidance application may process framesassociated with a particular eye as well as frames associated withsupplemental content for each eye. For example, in order to generate amedia asset (e.g., which ma be display on user equipment device 402,404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4)) that is perceived by a user have a 3D effect,the media guidance application may generate a synchronization scheme fora optical user device (e.g., optical user device 900 (FIGS. 9A-D)). Asdescribed in relation to FIGS. 9A-D, the synchronization scheme createsthe 3D effect by opening and closing shutters (e.g., shutter 902 and 904(FIGS. 9A-D)) based on whether or not a particular frames (e.g., of theplurality of frames making up a media asset) is associated with eitherthe left or right eye of a user. In addition to being associated by themedia guidance application (and processed using processing circuitry 306(FIG. 3) accordingly) with either a right or a left eye, the frame mayalso be associated with supplemental content.

For example, the media guidance application may generate the effect of asubtitle (e.g., received from media guidance data source 418 (FIG. 4)and/or any location accessible via communications network 414 (FIG. 4))in a language choice of a user (e.g., as received via a user inputinterface 310 (FIG. 3) and/or received from a user profile storedlocally on storage 308 (FIG. 3)) being overlaid on the media asset bycombining a frame of the media asset and a frame including only thesupplemental content (i.e., transparent with the exception of thegraphics/text of the subtitles). Additionally or alternatively, themedia guidance application may receive (e.g., via I/O path 302 (FIG. 3))a frame with the supplemental content already included.

For example, in response to a user input (e.g., via user input interface310 (FIG. 3)) received at the display device (e.g., a display associatedwith, or incorporated into, user equipment device 402, 404, and/or 406(FIG. 4)) or at the optical user device (e.g., optical user device 900(FIGS. 9A-D)), requesting supplemental content, the media guidanceapplication may retrieve (e.g., from media content source 416 (FIG. 4)or any location accessible via communications network 414 (FIG. 4)) amedia asset including the supplemental content. In some embodiments, themedia guidance application may receive individual frames (e.g.,corresponding to the particular instance of supplemental content neededby the user) or may receive a series of frames (e.g., corresponding to asegment or the entire presentation of a media asset).

The media guidance application may determine that the received frame hassupplemental content based on analyzing (e.g., using processingcircuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) data (e.g., media guidance data received withthe media asset) indicating that the current frame includes supplementalcontent (and/or the type of supplemental content). The media guidanceapplication may also use various types of object recognition (asdescribed above) to determines whether or not the current frame includessupplemental content. If the media guidance application determines(e.g., via processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) that the frame does notinclude supplemental content, the media guidance application proceeds tostep 1110. If the media guidance application determines (e.g., viaprocessing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) that the frame does includesupplemental content, the media guidance application proceeds to step1106.

At step 1106, the media guidance application determines whether or notto present the supplemental content. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine that the received frame has a particular typeof supplemental content based on analyzing (e.g., using processingcircuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) data (e.g., media guidance data received withthe media asset) indicating that the current frame includes supplementalcontent of a particular type or using the object recognition technologydescribed above. For example, the media guidance application may receivemultiple frames (e.g., each corresponding to the same instance in amedia asset) including various types of supplemental content (e.g.,subtitles in various languages, advertisements for various products,etc.). The media guidance application may then determines (e.g., viaprocessing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) whether or not the particularsupplemental content corresponds to the current user (e.g., matching thetype of supplemental content requested via user input interface 310(FIG. 3)) or associated with the user based on a comparison with a userprofile. If the media guidance application determines (e.g. viaprocessing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) that the supplemental content shouldnot be presented to a user (e.g., the user does not wish to view anysupplemental content or just not supplemental content of this type), themedia guidance application instructs (e.g., via control circuitry 304(FIG. 3)) to close both the first and second shutters of the opticaluser device (e.g., optical user device 900 (FIGS. 9A-D)) at step 1108(e.g., in order to prevent the user from viewing the frame with eyehis/her right or left eye) and returns to step 1102.

If the media guidance application determines (e.g. via processingcircuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) that the supplemental content should bepresented to a user (e.g., the user wishes to view supplemental contentof this type), the media guidance application proceeds to step 1110 anddetermines if the frame corresponds to a first eye. At step 1110, themedia guidance application determines whether or not the framecorresponds to a first eye. If the media guidance application determines(e.g., via processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) that the frame correspondsto the first eye, the media guidance application instructs (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 4)) the optical user device (e.g., opticaluser device 900 (FIGS. 9A-D)) to open the shutter (e.g., shutter 902 or904 (FIGS. 9A-D)) associated with the first eye at step 1114. If themedia guidance application determines (e.g., via processing circuitry306 (FIG. 3)) that the frame does not correspond to the first eye, themedia guidance application instructs (e.g., via control circuitry 304(FIG. 4)) the optical user device (e.g., optical user device 900 (FIGS.9A-D)) to close the shutter (e.g., shutter 902 or 904 (FIGS. 9A-D))associated with the first eye at step 1112. After determining (e.g., viaprocessing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) whether or not the frame correspondsto the first eye (and/or whether or not to instruct (e.g., via controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) to open and/or close a shutter (e.g., shutter902 or 904 (FIGS. 9A-D)) on a user optical device (e.g., user opticaldevice 900 (FIGS. 9A-D)), the media guidance application proceeds tostep 1116.

At step 1116, the media guidance application determines whether or notthe frame corresponds to a second eye. If the media guidance applicationdetermines (e.g., via processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) that the framecorresponds to the second eye, the media guidance application instructs(e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 4)) the optical user device(e.g., optical user device 900 (FIGS. 9A-D)) to open the shutter (e.g.,shutter 902 or 904 (FIGS. 9A-D)) associated with the second eye at step1120. If the media guidance application determines (e.g., via processingcircuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) that the frame does not correspond to the secondeye, the media guidance application instructs (e.g., via controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 4)) the optical user device (e.g., optical userdevice 900 (FIGS. 9A-D)) to close the shutter (e.g., shutter 902 or 904(FIGS. 9A-D)) associated with the second eye at step 1118. Afterdetermining (e.g., via processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)) whether or notthe frame corresponds to the second eye (and/or whether or not toinstruct (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) a user opticaldevice (e.g., user optical device 900 (FIGS. 9A-D)) to open and/or closea shutter (e.g., shutter 902 or 904 (FIGS. 9A-D)), the media guidanceapplication returns to step 1102 to receive a new frame to process. Itshould be noted that in some embodiments, the determining step describedin relation to process 1100 may be performed according to asynchronization scheme as discussed in FIGS. 9A-D and FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is an illustrative example of multiplexing system used by amedia guidance application to generate media content for use inselectively displaying supplement content. FIG. 12 shows multiplexingsystem 1200, which may be used by a media guidance applicationimplemented on a user device (e.g., user equipment device 1208, 1210,and/or 1212, optical user device 1214, or any other device accessiblevia communications network 414 (FIG. 4)) to generate multiplexed mediaasset 1206.

Multiplexing system 1200 may be used by the media guidance applicationto generate a multiplexed media asset that is associated with asynchronization scheme. As shown in FIG. 12, selection circuitry 1216,which in some embodiments may correspond to selection circuitry 318(FIG. 3), may receive instructions from control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3))for multiplexing media asset 1202 and media asset 1204. For example, themedia guidance application (e.g., implemented on optical user device1214, user equipment device 1208, 1210, and/or 1212) may incorporateand/or have access to selection circuitry 1216.

Selection circuitry 1216 may generate multiplexed media asset 1206 byforming a media asset with alternating frames from asset 1202 and asset1204. For example, multiplexed media asset 1206 features a frameassociated with a first instance of asset 1202, followed by a frameassociated with a first instance of asset 1204, followed by a frameassociated with a second instance of asset 1202, followed by a frameassociated with a second instance of asset 1204, etc.

In some embodiments, to generate multiplexed media asset 1206, the mediaguidance application instructs (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG.3)) selection circuitry 1216 to initiate the multiplexing of asset 1202and asset 1204. The media guidance application may also initiatetoggling circuitry (which may be incorporated into and/or accessible byselection circuitry 1216 and/or the multiplexer) to feed asset 1202 andasset 1204 into the multiplexer according to a clock signal. The clocksignal may indicate a cycling rate (e.g., corresponding to a refreshrate of user equipment device 1208, 1210, and/or 1212 displayingmultiplexed media asset 1206 as well as the refresh rate of optical userdevice 1214) at which one of the frames of either asset 1202 or 1204 isincorporated into multiplexed media asset 1206. It should be noted thatin some embodiments media assets may be multiplexed into a single mediaasset at a rate higher than the clock signal (even though uponsubsequent playback of the multiplexed media asset will be displayed atthe rate of the clock signal).

The media guidance application (e.g., via selection circuitry 1216) alsoindicates which media asset should correspond to the inputs of amultiplexer. For example, selection circuitry 1216 may indicate thatasset 1202 corresponds to a first frame port and asset 1204 correspondsto a second frame port. Furthermore, the toggling circuitry indicatesthe rate as to which the multiplexer should output a frame from eitherof the frame ports, and which frame port the multiplexer should output aframe from. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the multiplexed mediaasset 1206 alternates after each outputted frame from either frame port;thus, multiplexed media asset 1206 includes alternating frames fromasset 1202 and 1204.

The media guidance application (e.g., via selection circuitry 1216) mayalso instruct the toggling circuitry to calibrate optical user device1214 according to the clock signal. For example, in some embodiments,optical user device 1214 must be calibrated to the refresh rate ofmultiplexed media asset 1206.

The toggle circuitry may be a one-bit counter in some embodiments, andthe output of the toggle circuitry may be coupled to a selection port ofselection circuitry 1216. In some implementations, toggle circuitryreceives a clock signal and changes the output at the end of each periodof the clock signal. For example, the output of the toggle circuitry mayat one period of the clock signal cause the output of selectioncircuitry 1216 to correspond to the first frame for a first user. Theoutput of the toggle circuitry may at a next period of the clock signalcause the output of selection circuitry 1216 to correspond to the firstframe for a second user. Accordingly, at each period of the clock, theoutput of selection circuitry 1216 and thereby the displayed framechanges to alternate between the frame for the first user and the framefor the second user. The output of toggle circuitry may also be outputto the optical device. In response to receiving the output of the togglecircuitry, the optical device may either close one or both lens shuttersor open one or both lens shutters depending on the synchronizationscheme.

Specifically, when the toggle circuitry is causing selection circuitry1216 to output the first frame for the first user, the first user'soptical device may receive the output of the toggle circuitry and causethe lenses to be open. Alternatively, when the toggle circuitry iscausing selection circuitry 1216 to output the first frame for thesecond user, the first user's optical device may receive the output ofthe toggle circuitry and cause the lenses to be closed while the seconduser's optical device may cause the lenses to be opened.

Although toggle circuitry is described in the context of selectioncircuitry 1216 receiving two different video signals, toggle circuitrymay operate on selection circuitry 1216 that receives any number ofdifferent video signals (e.g., when three or more users are receivingdifferent video signals). In such circumstances, the output of togglecircuitry may be a counter having a multi-bit output that increases ordecreases at the end of each period of the clock. In someimplementations, the number of bits output by toggle circuitry may beproportional to the number of different video signals received byselection circuitry 1216.

In some implementations, the number of different video signals that areinput to selection circuitry 1216 may be proportional with the refreshrate. For example, with each additional video signal input to selectioncircuitry 1216 the refresh rate (and hence the clock signal) may beincreased by 60 Hz.

The media guidance application may facilitate the transmission ofsignals (e.g., indicative of a synchronization scheme) between opticaluser device 1214 and selection circuitry 1216 (e.g., for use incalibrating optical user device 1214). Furthermore, the media guidanceapplication may monitor and/or adjust (e.g., via control circuitry 304(FIG. 3)) the synchronization of optical user device 1214 or userequipment device 1208, 1210, and/or 1212 if any device deviates from thesynchronization scheme.

In some embodiments, optical user device 1214 and selection circuitry1216 may communicate via communications network 414 (FIG. 4). As such,optical user device 1214 and selection circuitry 1216 may communicatevia the Internet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice or data network(e.g., a 4G or LTE network), cable network, public switched telephonenetwork, or other types of communications network or combinations ofcommunications networks. Paths 408, 410, and 412 may separately ortogether include one or more communications paths, such as, a satellitepath, a fiber-optic path, a cable path, a path that supports Internetcommunications (e.g., IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcastor other wireless signals), short-range point-to-point communicationpaths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wireless paths (e.g.,Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or any other suitable wired orwireless communications path or combination of such paths.

For example, in some embodiments, a media guidance application maycoordinate (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) a synchronizationscheme for either the optical user device 1214 or a user equipmentdevice 1205, 1208, and/or 1212. For example, the media guidanceapplication may modify the synchronization scheme of optical user device1214 (e.g., the rate at which shutters (e.g., shutter 902 and shutter904 (FIG. 9)) on optical user device 1214 open and close) to match thecurrent refresh rate of multiplexed media asset 1206 as displayed onuser equipment 1208, 1210, and/or 1212.

To synchronize optical user device 1214 and the current refresh rate ofmultiplexed media asset 1206 as displayed on user equipment 1208, 1210,and/or 1212, the media guidance application may modify both thesynchronization scheme of the optical user device and the user equipmentdevice, or only the synchronization scheme of the user equipment deviceor optical user device. For example, in some embodiments, the mediaguidance application may modify the refresh rate associated with a mediaasset on a user device to match the synchronization scheme of an opticaluser device (e.g., optical user device 900 (FIG. 9)) or vice versa.

In addition, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) may increase the refresh rate associated with the userequipment device (e.g., user equipment device 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG.4)) to match a refresh rate associated with optical user device 1214that is necessary for selectively displaying supplemental content.

For example, if asset 1202 and asset 1204 both are initially associatedwith a refresh rate of 60 Hz, the media guidance application may need todouble the refresh rate in order to ensure that an open operationperformed by optical user device 1214 occurs on, and lasts the durationof, the display of a single frame of asset 1202 in multiplexed mediaasset 1206 (e.g., if the media guidance application determines the usershould view the frame from asset 1202). Likewise, the media guidanceapplication may need to double the refresh rate in order to ensure thata close operation performed by the optical user device occurs on, andlasts the duration of, a single frame of asset 1204 in multiplexed mediaasset 1206 (e.g., if the media guidance application determines the usershould not view the frame from asset 1204).

For example, if the refresh rate is doubled (e.g. 120 Hz instead of 60Hz) then a frame from both asset 1202 and 1204 may be displayed inmultiplexed media asset 1206 in the same amount of time as a singleframe in either asset 1202 or 1204. Furthermore, as the refresh rate ofoptical user device 1214 is also doubled (e.g., 120 Hz instead of 60Hz), the user still only views one set of frames (e.g., frames fromeither asset 1202 or asset 1204). Moreover, as the number of frames ofmultiplexed media asset 1206 is doubled (compared to asset 1202 or1204), but the rate at which the media guidance application presentsmultiplexed media asset 1206 is also doubled (compared to asset 1202 or1204), the user views multiplexed media asset 1206 in the same amount oftime as either asset 1202 or asset 1204 (albeit with twice as many openand close operations being performed by optical user device 1214). Itshould be noted, that as explained above selection circuitry 1216 (whichmay correspond to selection circuitry 318 (FIG. 3)) may include aninternal clock to monitor and/or adjust the synchronization scheme ofoptical user device 1214 and user equipment 1208, 1210, and/or 1212 asnecessary.

Thus, in a series of four frames (e.g., corresponding to fourconsecutive frames of multiplexed media asset 1206), the media guidanceapplication (e.g., via selection circuitry 1216) synchronizes opticaluser device 1214 and user equipment 1208, 1210, and/or 1212 such that ifa user wishes to view supplemental content, frame “A1” is presented whenthe optical user device is performing an open operation, and frame “B1”is presented when the optical user device is performing a closeoperation. The synchronization further causes frame “A2” to be presentedwhen the optical user device is performing a close operation, and frame“B2” to be presented when the optical user device is performing a closeoperation.

Furthermore, as multiplexed media asset 1206 represents a combination ofasset 1202 and 1204, multiplexed media asset 1206 alternates with oneframe including the media asset only and one frame including the mediaasset plus the supplemental content. For example, multiplexing system1200 begins with a set of frames corresponding to two identical mediaassets. However, asset 1202 includes supplemental content (e.g.,subtitles) and media asset 1204 does not include supplemental content.

In addition, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) synchronizes optical user device 1214 to selectioncircuitry 1216 such that multiplexed media asset 1206 corresponds to thesynchronization scheme of optical user device 1214. For example, ifoptical user device includes an active shutter system, thesynchronization scheme (e.g., the rate of opening and closing shutterson the optical user device) now corresponds to the refresh rate ofmultiplexed media asset 1206. Accordingly, if a user wishes to see thesupplemental content, the media guidance application may block (e.g., asdescribed in relation to FIGS. 9A-D) the media content without thesupplemental content and present the media content with the supplementalcontent.

Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, the media guidanceapplication may synchronize optical user device 1214 and selectioncircuitry 1216 by adjusting the polarization of the media assets beingdisplayed by the user equipment device such that one frame is polarizedninety degrees to the other. As selection circuitry 1216 is creatingmultiplexed media asset 1206, the media guidance application may thendetermine which frame to polarize based on how optical user device 1214is polarized and whether or not the user wishes to view the supplementalcontent. If the user wishes to see the supplemental content, the mediaguidance application may polarize the media content with thesupplemental content such that it corresponds to the polarization ofoptical user device 1214. Alternatively, if the user does not wish tosee the supplemental content, the media guidance application maypolarize the media content without the supplemental content such that itcorresponds to the polarization of optical user device 1214.

It should also be noted that while the current synchronization schemeinvolves multiplexing two media assets, any number of media asset may bemultiplexed according to this system. In such a case, the media guidanceapplication may synchronize the refresh rate accordingly (e.g., triplingthe refresh rate is three media assets are multiplexed, quadrupling therefresh rate is four media assets are multiplexed, etc.).

The above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are presentedfor purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and the presentdisclosure is limited only by the claims which follow. Furthermore, itshould be noted that the features and limitations described in any oneembodiment may be applied to any other embodiment herein, and flowchartsor examples relating to one embodiment may be combined with any otherembodiment in a suitable manner, done in different orders, or done inparallel. It should also be noted, the systems and/or methods describedabove may be applied to, or used in accordance with, other systemsand/or methods.

1. A method for presenting supplemental content in media assets, themethod comprising: generating a display of media content at a userdevice, wherein the media content includes a plurality of frames, andwherein a first frame of the plurality of frames includes firstsupplemental content and a second frame of the plurality of framesincludes second supplemental content; selecting, based on a usercriterion, whether to present the first supplemental content or thesecond supplemental content to a user; in response to the selection,determining a viewing direction in which the selected first supplementalcontent or the selected second supplemental content is presented to theuser; and generating a display of the selected first supplementalcontent or the selected second supplemental content at the determinedviewing direction simultaneously with the media content.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the viewing direction represents a pair of anglesassociated with a gaze point of a user.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein each of the plurality of frames of the media content forms ahologram.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected firstsupplemental content or the selected second supplemental content appearsto the user to be overlaid on the media content.
 5. The method of claim1, wherein the selected first supplemental content or the selectedsecond supplemental content is only viewable by the user from theviewing direction.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:determining a first series of frames of the plurality of frames thatcorresponds to the first supplemental content; and presenting the firstseries of frames at the determined viewing direction.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the first supplemental content includes subtitles. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein the user criterion indicates a mediainterest of the user, a user selection indicating a desire to view thefirst supplemental content, or a recommendation for the firstsupplemental content generated from a remote location.
 9. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising selecting the first supplemental contentbased on cross-referencing the first supplemental content and the secondsupplemental content with a database associated with user preferences todetermine whether the first supplemental content or the secondsupplemental content corresponds to the user preferences.
 10. The methodof claim 1, wherein the selected first supplemental content is presentedto the user at the determined viewing direction while the secondsupplemental content is presented to a different user at a differentdetermined viewing direction.
 11. A system for presenting supplementalcontent in media assets, the system comprising control circuitryconfigured to: generate a display of media content at a user device,wherein the media content includes a plurality of frames, and wherein afirst frame of the plurality of frames includes first supplementalcontent and a second frame of the plurality of frames includes secondsupplemental content; select, based on a user criterion, whether topresent the first supplemental content or the second supplementalcontent to a user; in response to the selection, determine a viewingdirection in which the selected first supplemental content or theselected second supplemental content is presented to the user; andgenerate a display of the selected first supplemental content or theselected second supplemental content at the determined viewing directionsimultaneously with the media content.
 12. The system of claim 11,wherein the viewing direction represents a pair of angles associatedwith a gaze point of a user.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein each ofthe plurality of frames of the media content forms a hologram.
 14. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the selected first supplemental content orthe selected second supplemental content appears to the user to beoverlaid on the media content.
 15. The system of claim 11, wherein theselected first supplemental content or the selected second supplementalcontent is only viewable by the user from the viewing direction.
 16. Thesystem of claim 11, the control circuitry is further configured to:determine a first series of frames of the plurality of frames thatcorresponds to the first supplemental content; and present the firstseries of frames at the determined viewing direction.
 17. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the first supplemental content includes subtitles. 18.The system of claim 11, wherein the user criterion indicates a mediainterest of the user, a user selection indicating a desire to view thefirst supplemental content, or a recommendation for the firstsupplemental content generated from a remote location.
 19. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to selectthe first supplemental content based on a cross-reference of the firstsupplemental content and the second supplemental content with a databaseassociated with user preferences to determine whether the firstsupplemental content or the second supplemental content corresponds tothe user preferences.
 20. The system of claim 11, wherein the selectedfirst supplemental content is presented to the user at the determinedviewing direction while the second supplemental content is presented toa different user at a different determined viewing direction. 21-40.(canceled)